
Class _Aj_CXU5L 
Book /tlE 



Copyright N°. 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



SCHOOL ETHICS 



SCHOOL ETHICS 



BY 



ELEANOR MARCHBANKS 



WITH SELECTIONS FOR READING 



The soul of all improvement is 
the iviprovement of the soul. 

HORACE BUSHNELL. 



BOSTON 

THE FOUR SEAS COMPANY 

1913 






Copyright, igrj, by 
THE FOUR SEAS COMPANY 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 






THE FOUR SEAS PRESS 
SHARON, MASS. U. S. A. 



To the boys ajid girls —- some no7v men a7id 
women --- tvith ivhom the author has 
faithfully and lovingly, if at 
times erroneously, labored 
this little volume is 
most affectionately 
dedicated. 



FOREWORD. 

ALL literary work is an index of the 
author's character. No' teacher can 
write better than she can teach. So 
all persons and conditions that have helped me 
to do good work have helped to write this little 
book. The pupils who have lent their loving 
co-operation, the teachers, school-boards, and 
patrons who have instructed, encouraged, and 
commended, have all contributed to the follow- 
ing pages. This is true in an especial sense of 
my former superintendent, Mr. E. E. Bramlette, 
to whom I am indebted for many thoughts 
planted during my years of work under him, 
and for criticism and suggestions in regard to 
the following pages. 

Each individual weaves his own life fabric, 
yet the texture, coloring, and design are largely 
influenced by the thoughts, helpful deeds, and 
words of good cheer extended him. So it is 
with this volume. It is mine, and yet not mine, 
for the best of it belongs directly or indirectly 
to others. Indeed, I have been shown so much 
kindness and consideration by authors, publish- 
ers, and editors, that I have been surprised and 
pleased by their universal courtesy and help- 
fulness. 



The following acknowledgments are due. and 
are gratefully accorded. To "The Children's 
Star Magazine" for permission to use these se- 
lections : Finding What We Look For by Eliza- 
beth Earl Jones, A Garden in Winter, The Boy 
Who Clings to Mother, The Secret of Happi- 
ness, The Tzv'o Valentines by Edith R. Mosher, 
Fighting Their Dragons, Hozi^ Grace Went to 
the Floiifcr Party by Anne Guilbert Mahon, and 
a version of the Russian legend Where Love is 
There is God; to "McCall's Magazine" for per- 
mission to use the selection entitled The Two 
Nciv Hens; to the "Journal of Education," for 
We Love the Trees; to the "Journal and Mes- 
senger" for Little Thankful by Susan M. Grif- 
fith ; to "Boys and Girls" for A Fairy Story by 
S. Virginia Levis ; to the "New York Maga- 
zine" for The Just Like You Country; to the 
"Sunday School Advocate" for Where Van Left 
Off; to the "Christian Observer" for Hozij 
Much? ; to Miss Jane Gray Syme for permission 
to use her selection entitled Angel Food Cake; 
to Mrs. Jasmine Stone Van Dresser and her 
publishers, Messrs. G. P. Putnam's Sons, for 
the selection The Best Thing that Begins zvith 
O from her book entitled Hozf to Find Happy- 
land; and to Mrs. Ella Partridge Lipsett and 
the Reid Publishing Company for the selection 
Her First Day at School from her book entitled 
Billy Dnnkle. E. M. 



CONTENTS 



I. TO TEACHERS 11 

II. MARTHA AND MARY 16 

III. TEACHING KINDNESS 28 

IV. A FLOWER LESSON 55 

V. MEMORY GEMS 64 

VI. CHEERFULNESS 82 

VII. NATIONALITY 97 

VIII. MANNERS 105 

IX. SELECTIONS FOR READING 119 



SCHOOL ETHICS 



TO TEACHERS. 

Nor knowest thou what argument 

Thy life to thy neighbor's creed has lent. 

— Emerson. 

FOR years there has been a growing feel- 
ing of dissatisfaction with the results of 
the pubHc school work. People realize 
there is something radically wrong, or the 
output would be more satisfactory. Able 
educators, wise statesmen, and interested par- 
ents are trying to discover and rectify the de- 
fects in the system. 

The greatest need of the school children of 
today is a practical knowledge of piety, of 
righteousness, of right living. Moral training is 
of much more vital importance to the child than 
intellectual, physical, or manual training, though 
the world has not yet been aroused to this fact. 
Teaching the child to love and reverence God, 
to honor and obey his parents, to be honest and 
kind in his dealings with his fellow-men, to be 
industrious and faithful in the performance of 
work, to be loyal and obedient to his country's 
laws, will give him a more helpful ecjuipmenc 
than will a knowledge of the wooly caterpillar, 
the chemistry of food, how to hammer brass, or 
how to dissect cats. 

fin 



12 SCHOOL ETHICS 

This is no new theory. Henry van Dyke 
says, "Surely it would be a good thing if in our 
schools it could be recognized that a child had 
far better grow up thinking the earth is flat 
than to remain ignorant of God and moral law 
and filial duty." Roosevelt says, "When you 
take care of the children you are taking care ot 
the nation of to-morrow." Phillips Brooks says, 
"He who helps a child helps humanity with a 
distinctness, with an immediateness, which no 
other help given to human creatures in any 
other stage of their human life, can possibly- 
give again." 

Realizing the child's need of such help, and 
feeling that when he asks for bread we often 
give him a stone, I am offering to teachers the 
following practical methods that have unfolded 
to me during my years of work in the public 
schools, hoping to aid in a small way in awak- 
ening parents and teachers to the moral train- 
ing of the child. 

"Tell it as it wuz," says James Whitcomb 
Riley. So, I have endeavored to follow his 
homely advice, and in a simple, natural way 
tell you just how I teach "School Ethics." 
The little incidents recorded are facts, — often 
the exact words of the child, and the real Chris- 
tian names are used. Necessity and not egot- 



TO TEACHERS 13 

ism is responsible for the repeated use of the 
first personal pronoun. The methods have been 
successfully used with third, fourth, fifth and 
sixth grade pupils, and as women usually teach 
these grades it seemed more appropriate to use 
the feminine gender when referring to the 
teacher. However, its use was prompted by 
no desire to ignore the male teachers, to whom 
I gladly extend the hand of pedagogic fellov;- 
ship. 

The stories, poems, and quotations have been 
gathered from various sources, and will be new 
to most teachers. The selections given will 
show the young teacher how easy and how de- 
sirable it is to have individual work of this sort. 
Each teacher knows, or should know, the needs 
of her pupils better than any one else, and for 
that reason can select more suitable material 
than any one else. 

No two people can do work just alike. When 
you destroy a teacher's individualitv, you de- 
stroy her usefulness ; therefore these methods 
are ofifered merely as helpful suggestions in be- 
half of the cultivation of the child's ethical na- 
ture, about which we talk so beautifully and for 
which we do so little. 

Each individual, both as child and man, must 
do his own work, must be "self-made" or go in- 



14 SCHOOL ETHICS 

complete. There are certain things no one can 
do for him. The only way that we can really 
help him is to show him how good and how 
pleasant a thing it is to do right. Then when 
his ambition and desire are aroused in the di- 
rection of righteousness, by keeping the 
thought before him we may awaken a working 
desire in his mind to live a better, purer, more 
Christ-like life. That is what these little meth- 
ods do. They "lead him on by free and joyous 
ways to know and choose the things that are 
pure and lovely and of good report." By their 
use I have been enabled to control my pupils 
with but little friction. They have been con- 
trolled, through their understanding of the 
right principle, to do right for right's sake. 
When a child is actuated by the right motive 
he becomes trustworthy, and not until then. 
Discipline should be the watchword in every 
school, with the understanding that the only 
efficacious discipline is the discipline from 
within. 

Children's moral perceptions differ just as 
their intellectual ability varies. So you may 
not be able to arouse as high a degree of 
moral perception in some pupils as in others, 
but if you do your work well, rest as- 
sured you will help each little ciiild spiritually. 



TO TEACHERS • 15 

The result will be boys and girls who are dailv 
becoming better able to cope with their difficul- 
ties, find solutions for their problems, and learn 
to recognize and reverence the divine in life. 

All unconsciously we teach the things that 
we really are. The only virtues we can impart 
are the virtues we actually possess. Many 
of us fail in our efforts to control and uplift 
pupils because we are not what we should 
be ourselves. It is one of the indisputable facts 
of school life that our school rooms are simply a 
reflex of ourselves. If we are impatient and 
ill-tempered the pupils do not manifest very an- 
gelic dispositions; if we are partial and unjust 
in our treatment of them, they will display that 
very trait in their dealings with each other. 
Therefore, the memory gem for each teacher is, 
"Example sheds a genial ray 
Of light that men are apt to borrow, 
So, first improve yourself today. 
And then your friend tomorrow. " 



MARTHA AND MARY. 

"Slie who has chosen Martha's part, 
The planning ahead, the steady heart, 
So full of household work and care, 
Intent on serving everywhere. 
May also Mary's secret know, 
Nor yet her household cares forego, 
May sit and learn at Jesus' feet, 
Nor leave her service incomplete.'' 

WHEN I think of the existing condi- 
tions of the pubHc schools, of the 
frantic, inefit'ectual, pitiable efforts 
made to give the pupils a tiny intellectual bite 
of every subject "in the heavens above, or 
that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the 
waters under the earth," I am reminded of 
Jesus' words to Martha, who "was cumbered 
about much serving" and complained that Mary, 
who sat at Jesus' feet, would not help her. Jesus 
replied, "Martha, thou art careful and troubled 
about many things, but one thing is needful, 
and Mary has chosen that good part w^hich shall 
not be taken away from her." 

In the public school work we find many 
weary, nervous, fretful, well-meaning Marthas 
who, "cumbered with much serving," can not 
find time to sit at Jesus' feet. Their tasks are 
so complex, their responsibilities are so multi- 
[16] 



MARTHA AND MARY 17 

tudinous, that they do not know how to choose 
"that good part that can not be taken away." 
Indeed, some have not even learned what the 
"good part" is. There are teachers bhssfully 
ignorant of what constitutes a teacher's work. 
They think if they can keep their grades up, 
maintain order, make necessary reports, and get 
through the term without friction, they have 
mastered the science of pedagogy and ,can af- 
ford to rest on their laurels. The conduct of 
many superintendents and principals fosters this 
belief. Often the teacher who receives the 
most praise is the teacher who suppresses the 
child and, with machine-like precision, adheres 
to her daily routine. 

When we look at the subject in its true light 
we find the teacher's real work is infinitely 
higher than the mere drudgery of teaching from 
text-books and maintaining order, for to her is 
intrusted the difficult, yet exalted work of char- 
acter-building and citizenship-making. 

Young America could never have become 
what he is had the thought of character-building 
been paramount in the aim of the schools. In 
the rush and hurry of the present day, in the 
over-crowded curriculum, in the cultivation of 
the physical and the intellectual, we are neglect- 
ing the spiritual side of the child's nature. It re- 



18 SCHOOL ETHICS 

quires just as much time, and as persistent an 
effort to teach a child goodness as to teach him 
mathematics. So, as it is impossible to do well 
all the innumerable things required of us, we 
stress the physical and the intellectual and ex- 
clude the ethical, except nominally. 

The thing that unnerves and exhausts the 
teacher is the knowledge of her inability to per- 
form the many and varied duties required of her. 
She worries over the chaotic demands of her 
situation. She fully agrees with Mrs. Malaprop 
that if she "like Cerberus were three gentlemen 
at one time" she could not do the work required 
of her. However, when she views her work in 
the light of character-building, citizenship- 
making, the complex becomes simple — like 
Christian, the burden falls from off her back. 
She sees the great thing needful for good citi- 
zenship is to teach the child, "Thou shalt love 
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with 
all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all 
thy strength, and thy neighbor as thyself; for 
on these two commandments hang all the law 
and the prophets." 

No man fails in life simply from a lack of 
knowledge of Greek, Latin or geometry, yet how 
many men are miserable failures from lack of 
knowledge of good! There are many people 



MARTHA AND MARY 19 

with excellent literary training who can not hold 
positions, who are in absolute need of the neces- 
saries of life, simply because they have never 
learned to be honest and trustworthy. There 
are many superfluities in the educational world, 
but the work-a-day world cries aloud for the 
solid qualities of accuracy and faithfulness. It 
is useless to bring one to manhood with educa- 
tion and little else. This is not written with 
any desire to depreciate scholarship, but to em- 
phasize the truth. Scholarship is desirable, but 
goodness is more desirable. 

If we teach the child to be upright, to do his 
work well, to reverence the good, the beautiful, 
and the true, we are laying a sure foundation for 
that child's future success, a foundation that 
nothing can destroy. Character, then, and effi- 
ciency are the chief ends to be held in view in 
the training of children, with physical health as 
a necessary essential to the attainment of these 
ends. 

The subject of moral teaching in the public 
schools has many perplexing features. Children 
of various nationalities and creeds all drink at 
the same educational fountain, and it requires 
spirituality, patience, persistence, and tact on 
the part of the teacher to give the Water of Life 
from the Living Fountain in such a way as to 



20 SCHOOL ETHICS 

offend none and to benefit all. No matter how 
desirous the teacher may be to uplift the child 
spiritually, she is powerless to help him to any 
great extent until she has learned the truth of 
George Eliot's words, "The great lesson of life 
is tolerance." She must be able to recognize 
the gold in the eastern proverb, "The broad- 
minded see the truth in different religions, the 
narrow-minded see only the difference." She 
must know that religion is simply the life of 
God in the heart of man, and that it is greater 
than any creed. Then she will not sow dissen- 
sion by discussing denominations and dogmas, 
but will teach the fundamental truths essential 
to right living, that are endorsed by all, whether 
Jew, Catholic, or Protestant, for, as Drummond 
says, "The words we shall all one day hear 
sound not of theology, but of life." 

We often hear remarks similar to the follow- 
ing: "I send my child to school to get an edu- 
cation, not to be taught religion." "Religious 
instruction in the public school is in violation of 
the constitution." The people who clamor most 
about the execution of the letter of the law gen- 
erally have the least understanding of the true 
spirit of the law. Any unprejudiced person 
knows that the noble men who framed our con- 
stitution had no desire to exclude the children 



MARTHA AND MARY 21 

of the United States from Christian training, 
no wish that these children should grow up, as 
many of them are doing, "ignorant of God and 
moral law and filial duty." Our forefathers' 
aims were, according to Washington, "to estab- 
lish effectual barriers against the horrors of 
spiritual tyranny, and every species of religious 
persecution." However, we are far from in- 
dulging in "spiritual tyranny" or "religious per- 
secution" when we teach the child to 
"Live pure, speak true, right wrong, follow the 

King, 
Else wherefore born?" 

Much of the so-called opposition to religious 
or moral teaching in the public school is due to 
the mistakes made in attempts to teach morals 
by ignorant or over-zealous teachers, and from 
these mistakes have arisen a misconception of 
what constitutes moral training in the public 
school. It is this misconception which people 
oppose, and not religious or moral training. No 
parent is averse to having his child taught to be 
honest, kind, industrious and obedient, but he 
rightly objects to the teaching of cant, fanati- 
cism, and sectarianism. Let the teacher really 
help the child to better things and she wins the 
gratitude and co-operation of the parents. 
Henry van Dyke says, "Good citizens, honest 



22 SCHOOL ETHICS 

workmen, cheerful comrades, true friends, gen- 
tlemen — that is what the product of religion 
should be." Surely it would be for the better- 
ment of the child, and consequently of the na- 
tion, if the children of our land were taught 
such a religion. 

Much of what we designate as ethical teach- 
ing in the public school is a waste of time, a 
burlesque, a travesty. Not that the teacher in- 
tends it to be such, or is even aware that such 
a condition exists, but simply because she knows 
no better. The young teacher with the best of 
motives often makes blunders that are both sad 
and ludicrous. 

I recall an incident that happened soon after 
I began teaching, which forcibly illustrates this 
fact. You will be better able to comprehend my 
feelings in regard to the affair when I tell yod 
I was brought up in the old-school Presbyterian 
faith, which prescribes keeping the letter as well 
as the spirit of the law. 

In the early spring I was confronted with 
what I have since learned to view as an annual 
spring dilemma that year by year confronts the 
weary pedagog — playing marbles "for keeps." 
I reported the matter to the principal, who was 
an old teacher, and I suppose had become accus- 
tomed to such youthful crimes. At any rate, 



MARTHA AND MARY 23 

the enormity of the offence failed to appeal to 
him as it did to me. He said there were certain 
things no teacher could prevent. Playing mar- 
bles "for keeps" was one of them. Just so long 
as there were two boys and a bag of marbles, 
just so long would playing "keeps" continue. 
When you could not prevent a thing, it was best 
not to see it. 

Such reasoning failed to satisfy me. I felt 
that playing marbles "for keeps" was miniature 
gambling, that whoever took something for 
nothing was guilty of wrong. It inattered not 
whether the participants were thoughtless little 
boys playing marbles under the blue sky, ming- 
ling their merry laughter with the song of the 
birds and the busy hum of the bees, or hard- 
ened men playing cards in closed rooms filled 
with foul air, where no sound was heard save 
the shufile of the cards and the voice of the 
gambler. The principle was the same, and if I 
knew my boys were playing such a game and ut- 
tered no protest, they were learning to gamble 
with my endorsement. When the subject pre- 
sented itself to me in that light I felt I must do 
something to prevent those boys from gamb- 
ling. I was so thoroughly convinced that it was 
my duty to prevent the boys from pla}'ing 
^'keeps" that I was willing to jeopardize my po- 



24 SCHOOL ETHICS 

sition by pursuing a course my principal disap- 
proved. 

Young and inexperienced, filled with zeal but 
no knowledge, overflowing with bigotry, but 
lacking Christian charity, I proceeded to deliver 
a lecture to the boys on the evils of gambling. 
This talk I then believed to be of a most relig- 
ious nature and well calculated to convince 
them of the error of their way ; however, I have 
since been able to see that it was merely an 
abusive, fanatical harangue. Such a talk be- 
longed to the sensational yellow-back novels, but 
was sadly out of place in the school-room. In- 
deed, it seems almost cruel that helpless little 
children of whom "such is the Kingdom of 
heaven" should have been forced to listen to 
abuse of their neighbors, when they should have 
been learning "God is love." 

I have never been able to learn how, when, or 
where I gained the extensive information in re- 
gard to gamblers and gambling which I so read- 
ily imparted to those children. I had never 
known a professional gambler, nor had I made 
any effort to obtain reliable intelligence upon 
the subject. However, at that time I was fully 
convinced that I knew all there was to know 
about gamblers and gambling. Prejudice sur- 
rounded me like a Chinese wall. The very prince 



MARTHA AND MARY 25 

of gamblers could not have enlightened me. 

The substance of what I told those children 
was this : all gamblers are drunkards, lazy and 
dishonest, while many are murderers ; any boy 
who plays marbles "for keeps" will most likely 
become a professional gambler, when he reaches 
manhood, and will be killed in a gambler's 
brawl, or commit murder and die on the gallows. 
You see, at that time I had never so much as 
heard Tennyson's beautiful lines, 

"He that only rules by terror 
Doth grievous wrong." 

The above is simply an abbreviated outline of 
my lecture. No description can do justice to 
the "blood and thunder" talk I imposed upon 
those children. It was one of the things that 
had to be heard to be appreciated. I enlarged 
upon the subject. I grandiloquently described 
the sin and misery of a gambler's life. I pa- 
thetically delineated the grief of the boys' 
parents when their sons were slain. I charitably 
accompanied the murderer's family to the scaf- 
fold, and sympathetically mingled my tears with 
theirs. Only one thing did I refuse to do, and 
that was to scatter flowers on the graves of the 
dead. 

There was only one redeeming feature con- 
nected with that morning's work, and that was 



26 SCHOOL ETHICS 

that somehow, somewhere, dense as I then was, 
I had gained an inkhng of this truth : the child's 
reason must be conquered, not his body. To 
benefit him, I must win my way by conviction. 
With this thought in mind I told the boys I 
would give them a few days to think over the 
matter, trusting they would stop playing be- 
cause they recognized the evil of the game, not 
because they were forced to stop. 

The next morning one of my boys came into 
my room, threw himself into his seat and said 
to me, "You needn't be worrying about me 
playing 'keeps,' fur I'm done. I ain't never go- 
ing to play again as long as I live." 

Tears came to my eyes, and a regular "Jack- 
the-Bean-Stalk" feeling crept over me. I felt 
the good seed I had sown had germinated, blos- 
somed, and born fruit in a single night. I went 
to the child, put my arm around him, and said, 
**You have no idea how glad I am to hear you 
say that. I am so glad you see what playing 
marbles 'for keeps' leads to, and have ceased to 
play because you are convinced it is wrong." 

"Yessum, I'm never going to play again. 
Why, this morning when I come to school I ha.l 
fifty-seven of the prettiest stonies you ever seen 
and now" putting his hand into his pocket and 
pulling out three marbles which he held out for 



MARTHA AND MARY 27 

my inspection, "I ain't got but these three no 
'count things ! Naw, I don't want to play 
'keeps.' They ain't no fun in it if you lose all 
the time." 

"As ye sow, so shall ye reap." This was the 
legitimate fruit of the sowing I had done. I 
can never recall this incident without a 
feeling of contrition and remorse. The fact that 
I was young and inexperienced affords little 
consolation. When one enters upon the great 
work of soul-gardening, as teaching has been 
aptly called, he can not afford to make such 
egregious mistakes. However, no matter how 
wise, how faithful, how efficient we may be, 
tliere are certain incidents in the life of each 
teacher that she can not recall without realizing 
the appropriateness of Jesus' words, "Father, 
forgive them, for they know not what they do." 

Emerson's words, "The years teach much that 
the days never know," hold a helpful thought for 
us all. I am indeed glad the years have taught 
me a better way, and because I want every 
teacher to learn this better way I have written 
this incident, hoping it may enable INIartha 
"cumbered with much serving" to choose "that 
good part that can not be taken away" and come 
with Mary and sit at Jesus' feet. 



TEACHING KINDNESS. 

A great chance deed may sway our minds, 
But soon the impress fades away ; 
One Hfe-long influence we find 
In little deeds from day to day. 

— Eugene C. Dolson. 

ALL my moral instruction is based on 
the following maxims : 
"As a man thinketh in his heart, so 
is he." — Proverbs. 

"Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever 
things are honest, whatsoever things are just, 
whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things 
are of good report, think on these things." 

— Colossians. 
"What you look at longest you grow to look 
like." — Henry van Dyke. 

When you go to help a child solve a problem 
in mathematics you do not say a word to the 
child about the many wrong methods he cotild 
use in trying to solve the problem, for you real- 
ize that just so long as the pupil thinks about 
the wrong way. he can not think about the right 
way. Your work is to help him find the right 
principle, for you know whenever he recognizes 
and applies the right principle he will solve the 
problem. This is a self-evident fact that is rec- 
ognized by all teachers, yet few teachers realize 
[28] 



TEACHING KINDNESS 29 

that the principle applies to the child's moral as 
well as intellectual training. You can no more 
teach a child to be good by continually telling 
him of evil, than you can teach him to be a 
mathematician by continually placing misstate- 
ments before him. If you wish a child to be a 
musician you do not have him study discord, 
but harmony ; so in the great school of life we 
cannot afford to waste our time studying life's 
discords if we wish to learn life's concords. 

I never dwell upon evil when talking to chil- 
dren. My one aim is to keep their minds filled 
with thoughts of the good, the true, and the 
beautiful. Thought is the great creative force, 
and our acts, whether good or bad, are the 
products of our thoughts — the children of our 
thoughts. All great, good, heroic acts, all deeds 
of cruelty and crime spring from the tiny em- 
bryo of thought. It is not what a child has, or 
wears, or knows, or says, or does, but what he 
thinks as he works, as he plans, as he plays, that 
is moulding his character, that is shaping his life. 
Every thought is a friend or an enemy ; for 
every thought is a stone in the citadel of char- 
acter that he is daily building. If we wish the 
building to be beautiful and useful, we must see 
that nothing but good stones are used in its con- 
struction. If we wish to make the child's life 



30 SCHOOL ETHICS 

better we must make his thoughts better. If the 
thought of good predominates nothing can harm 
or contaminate him. When a child is thinking 
good it is impossible for him to think evil. If his 
mind is filled with thoughts of love, of purity, 
and peace, there is no place for thoughts of hate, 
obscenity, and discord. You can not fill vessels 
already full. The only thing that concerns the 
teacher is to see that the vessels are filled with 
the right quality of thought. 

We are told that "Variety is the spice of life," 
and nowhere is this spice in greater demand than 
in the school-room. Many teachers fail because 
they have never learned that monotony is stag- 
nation. To benefit the child you must have his 
interest and his co-operation. These you can 
never gain by following in the same old beaten 
paths. A teacher's success not only rests upon 
her ability to recognize a good method, but upon 
her knowledge of the proper time to change the 
method. A certain method may be the very best 
of its kind, producing most gratifying results, 
yet if used to satiety it is a failure. For this 
reason I continually change my methods, using 
various individual, palatable ways of presenting 
the same thought. However, in the selection of 
these methcds I endeavor not to confuse charm 
with merit. 



TEACHING KINDNESS 31 

Suppose I wish to impress the thought of 
kindness upon the nnnds of the children. I 
proceed in this way. First I write the word 
"kind" on the board, and then have two or three 
children give the meaning of the word. After 
cbtaining their primitive ideas, I ask the pupils 
to find the word in their dictionaries, and I have 
one child read the definition aloud. Next I ex- 
plain to them (in case they are not advanced 
enough to tell me) how, by the addition of the 
suffix "ness" we get the word "kindness," that 
"ness" means state or condition of being ; there- 
fore "kindness" means state or condition of be- 
ing kind. After talking with the pupils long 
enough to arouse their interest in the subject of 
kindness I write this on the board: "Be ye kind 
and affectionate one to another." 

Some of the children instantly recognize the 
lines, hands go up, and I am told, "Jesus said 
that," and "It is in the Bible." 

"Yes, Jesus said that, and here is something 
else that he said," and I write, "If ye love me, 
3^e will keep my commandments." I then say, 
"Children, many people think, or act as if they 
think the Bible was written just for the people 
who lived at the time it was written. That is not 
the exact truth, for while it was written for 
them, it was also written for vou, for me, for 



32 SCHOOL ETHICS 

everybody. So, when Jesus said, 'Be ye kind 
and affectionate one to another,' He spoke to 
you, to me, just as much as He spoke to Peter, 
or to John. 'If ye love me ye will keep my com- 
mandments,' is what Christ is this morning say- 
ing to every little boy. to every little girl in this 
room. Jesus knew it was impossible for us to 
love people and never do anything to please 
them. It is so easy to say we love God, or 
our parents, or our friends, but merely saying 
the words amounts to nothing unless w^e prove 
the truth of our w^ords by our deeds. Nov/, all 
this week we are going to prove our love by 
being kind. We are going to be kind to each 
one here at school, kind and obedient to 
our parents, kind and loving to our broth- 
ers and sisters, kind and polite to the people 
we meet on our w-ay to school, kind and 
considerate with the servants, kind to the 
dumb brutes, kind to every living thing. 
Think what an easy w^ay that is to show 
our love ! Just to be kind ! That is something 
we can all do, no matter what grade we are in. 
"I want you to remember what kind act you 
do so you can tell me about it in the morning. 
Of course I can not ask each pupil tomorrow, 
but I will ask several each day until every child 
has had an opportunity of telling how he has 



TEACHING KINDNESS 35 

shown his love by keeping the commandment. 
'Be ye kind and affectionate one to another/ 
"Here is a httle story I wish to read you. You 
will not only enjoy listening to it, but will be 
helped by it. It tells how a family of children 
proved their love for their mother. The name 
of the story is 

HOJV MUCH? 

"Yesterday was mother's birthday," said Billy 
Stone, as he walked proudly by the side of Miss 
Fowler, his Sunday-school teacher, "We gave 
her presents." 

"How nice! I suppose you love her very 
much, don't you?" 

"Lots." 

"Well, Billy, my man," said Miss Fowler, 
stopping a minute at the corner where she 
turned off, "don't you forget your lesson last 
Sunday. You know what our Bible says about 
how true love shows itself." 

Yes, Billy knew. He walked on, thinking of 
it, and presently his round face grew very sober. 

"Yesterday we told mother that we gave her 
presents with our love. Today is only one day 
off, and I would not get up in time for break- 
fast. I was late at school. I made the twins 
mad and sneaked out of the back door so as not 
to have to go for the mail. I can't see how any- 



34 SCHOOL ETHICS 

body, looking at the way I have acted, could tell 
that I love my mother at all." 

It was beginning to rain when Billy reached 
home. He and the twins, who had been playing 
in the yard, all went into the shelter of the 
kitchen together. Mrs. Stone, at work in the 
next room, looked out of the window with a 
sigh. She had so much to do, and there was 
liable to be trouble when the children must stay 
in doors. Billy thought of this too. The twins 
were hanging their caps up with a scuffle. 

"I say, Robin," asked Billy abruptly, "how 
much do you love mother this afternoon?" 

Robin turned around and stared at him. What 
a queer question it was, not a bit like a boy. 

"Why," he giggled, "Do you want me to 
write some poetry about it?" 

"Poetry!" snififed Billy, "I want to know how 
much — just plain how much — that isn't poetry, 
is it?" 

"That's arithmetic," said Dora. Dora was 
the eldest of them all. She was bolstered up in 
a big chair, by the fire ; she had been ill for a 
fortnight. 

"How much?" repeated Robin, "How can vou 
tell how much you love a person ?" 

"In plenty of ways," said Billy wisely, 'T"ll 
tell you one right now^ I love mother a box full." 



TEACHING KINDNESS 35 

With that he picked up the kindhng box and 
marched out into the shed. A Hght broke upon 
the twins. 

"Oh — o !" said Harry, "that's what you mean, 
is it? Well, I love her a pail full," seizing the 
water bucket and starting for the pump. 

"I iove her a scuttle full," said Robin, as he 
plunged down into the cellar after coal. 

Dora looked at the clock. She had looked at 
it five minutes before and said to herself: 

"I do believe darling mother is going to for- 
get the medicine this time. I shall not remind 
her. that's one thing sure." "But I guess," she 
said, reaching for the bottle, with a wry face, "I 
guess at least I can love her a spoonful !" 

There was a shout of laughter. Mrs. Stone 
heard and glanced anxiously at the door. 

"I hope there is no mischief on foot. I am in 
a hurry to get this sewing done." 

Kitty Stone had roused herself from her book 
in the old-fashioned window-seat to listen to 
Billy and the rest. So far she said nothing. But 
when the kindling box, the pail, and the scuttle 
were full, and the medicine bottle a little less 
full, the covers of Kitty's book went together 
with a snap. 

"Don't you think," she said, "that all of us to- 
gether if we hurried could love mother this room 



36 SCHOOL ETHICS 

full before she came in and caught us? I'll cleaa 
out the stove and blacken it." 

They worked like beavers. The last tin was 
swinging on the nail, and the last chair set back 
to the wall, before Mrs. Stone's step was heard 
coming rapidly down the hall. 

"Dora, child, your medicine," she said. 

"Yesum," Dora said demurely, "I took it for 
pure love — to you, not it." 

Her mother looked around the tidy kitchen, 
and when she saw how spick and span it was, 
and when she saw the row of smiling faces, she 
kissed them every one, and her own was just as 
bright as the brightest. 

"There is no other mother in this country 
that has such children as mine!" said Airs. 
Stone. 

"There, do you see !" said Billy to Robin, 
"Can't you tell how much you love a person? 
It feels nice, doesn't it?" 

We have a little talk about the story, bringing 
out the thought that these children proved their 
love for their mother more forcibly and more 
acceptably by their willing service, than by their 
presents and w'ords of endearment. 

The lesson is concluded when the pupils copy 
in composition books, which are reserved for 
memory work, the two verses on the board. 



TEACHING KINDNESS 37 

These they commit to memory by the next 
morning. 

The next day, say Tuesday, I write this on 
the board : 

"We have a great deal more kindness than 
is ever spoken." — Emerson, 

First, the pupils repeat the two verses used on 
IMonday, then I say, *T am certain each of you 
can understand or see the truth contained in this 
morning's memor}' gem. We know, there is 
more kindness in the world than is ever spoken, 
because we remember the many times we have 
thought kind things about people, but failed to 
say the kind words. So often we want to do a 
kind act, but the fear of being laughed at keeps 
us from doing it. However, the kind thoughts 
were in our hearts even if we did not express 
them, but this morning we are going to 'speak 
the kindness' as Emerson says. 

"Sidney, what kind act have you to tell lis 
about?" 

(Here I wish to say that I try to impress 
upon the pupils the importance of standing cor- 
rectly, articulating distinctly, pitching the voice 
properly, and expressing themselves in the best 
language they can command.) 

"Last night, Mammie" (his name for his 
grandmother) "wanted some medicine, so I went 



38 SCHOOL ETHICS 

to the drug store and got it for her." 

It is a teacher's duty to encourage a child by 
showing interest and appreciation in any Httle 
effort he makes to do right. With that thought 
in mind I say something Hke this : "I am indeed 
glad you were kind to your dear grandmother. 
]\Iany of us are not as thoughtful and consider- 
ate of the comforts and pleasures of old people 
as we should be. Let us repeat the verse about 
being kind to the old." 

We repeat, > 

"Be kind and gentle 

To those who are old ; 
For dearer is kindness 
And better than gold." 

"Mary, you may tell us what kind act you 
have done." 

"Last night I was busy studying, but Sam 
could not get his arithmetic, so I put my books 
away and helped him with his examples." 

"Did you think while you were helping your 
brother solve his problems you w^ere helping 
yourself too? Yes, you were reviewing arith- 
metic. That is one of the beautiful things about 
being kind, we cannot help others without help- 
ing ourselves." 

"Dale, 'how much?' as Billy savs." 

"When I rode Maude to town this morninsr 



TEACHING KINDNESS 39 

it was cold and the wind was blowing, so I 
thought to hitch her with her head turned away 
from the wind." 

"I am pleased that your kindness extended to 
the helpless dumb brute. Maude could not tell 
you she was uncomfortable, nor could she 
change her position. If you had hitched her fac- 
ing the wind, she would have had to stand there 
and endure the cold. It was no more trouble to 
you to hitch her the right way than the wrong. 

"Did you children ever hear the story about 
Abraham Lincoln's kindness to dumb creatures? 
He was one day walking with a member of his 
cabinet, when he suddenly turned aside from the 
beaten path. His friend, curious to know what 
had caused the momentary hesitation, asked him 
what was the matter. The President answered, 
'It's only a little worm, but I could not step on 
it, for there is room enough in the world for it 
and for me.' 

"It was these gentle traits of character that 
made this noble man so beloved." 

Robert raises his hand and says, "That story 
makes me think of the verse in our speller, 

'I would not count among my list of friends, 

The man who needlessly puts foot upon a 
worm.' " 

These are simple things that the pupils have 



40 SCHOOL ETHICS 

told me, nothing great or unusual. Yet the chil- 
dren were betlpr for doing the little acts of kind- 
ness, better still for telling about them, and their 
playmates were helped by listening to the homely 
little stories. We all need to know that it is the 
little things in life that count. It is the little acts 
of courtesy and kindness that sweeten life, it is 
the attention to little details that makes the suc- 
cessful business man, it is the little self-denial, 
the little acts of charity that make the strong 
spiritual man. So let tis not think it beneath us 
to do well the little things. 

I continue in this way each morning during 
the week, giving each pupil an opportunity to 
talk. Every day a different memory gem is 
placed on the board, which the pupils copy and 
memorize. For example : 

Wednesday. 

''I shall pass through this world but once. 
Any good thing therefore that I can do, or any 
kindness that I can show to any human being, 
let me do it now. Let me not defer it or neglect 
it, for I shall not pass this way again." 

— Edward Courtnay. 
Thursday. 

"The greatest thing a man can do for his 
Heavenly Father is to be kind to some of his 
children." — Drummond. 



TEACHING KINDNESS 41 

Friday. 
"To all living things I'll be 
Just as kind as kind can be — 
To chickens, birds and dogs and cats — 
Yes, even mice and long-tailed rats." 
This method has much to commend it. I 
doubt if any one who has not used it can realize 
the good that comes from its proper use. It un- 
ostensibly assists in the eradication of anger, 
selfishness, rudeness, and discord of whatever 
nature, and proves goodness to be more con- 
tagious in the school-room than the measles, and 
most effective when the epidemic begins with 
the teacher. 

What the world terms badness in children is 
merely misdirected activity. The only reason 
any one ever does the wrong is because he has 
never learned the beauty of doing the right. It 
is useless simply to tell a child to be kind ; you 
convey no idea to his mind ; he is not unkind 
'from viciousness. but from a lack of knowledge 
of kindness. This method teaches in a most 
practical way how to be kind. The important 
pedagogic rule of Mr. Squeers is followed," 
"When a child knows a thing he goes and does 
it." In other words, you have stimulated the 
child's active powers as you taxed his receptive 
powers. 



42 SCHOOL ETHICS- 

One of its merits is that it leads the child's 
thoughts to God and teaches him in a simple, 
nakiral way to talk about God and the Bible. 
These are subjects we discuss too little. Why 
should it ever have been necessary to say of any 
one, "God is not in all this thoughts?" The an- 
swer is plain, "His education has made him what 
he is." 

The pupil has learned six beautiful memory 
gems. They have been presented in such a way 
as to establish brain paths, therefore the verses 
and the incidents connected with them will re- 
main with the child all through life and help not 
only the boy and girl, but the man and woman to 
follow the command, "Be ye kind and affection- 
ate one to another." 

It is an adaptable method, as it can be effectu- 
ally used in the city, village, or district school. 
You can arrange it to fit any need or bring out 
any thought you wish to impress upon th.'^ 
pupils. 

I have obtained best rfesults by using this 
method for a week, and then selecting an en- 
tirely different way of presenting the same 
thought. 

For example : Were you to question the pupils 
in my school the next week they would tell you 
v.e Vv"cre studyin"' about l^rds. However, while 



TEACHING KINDNESS 43 

we are gaining a knowledge of the birds of our 
own and other countries, while we are filling our 
minds with beautiful, instructive, and amusing 
stories, poems, and legends, we are uncon- 
sciously learning to love birds and be kind to 
them. To teach a child to be kind to a thing is 
to teach him to love the thing, and to love a 
thing he must know something about it. So as 
I wish the children to be kind to the birds I 
teach them all I can about them. 

First, we have a talk about birds, thereby 
ascertaining the knowledge the pupils have of 
birds, and their thoughts in regard to them. I 
read or tell something of the life and work of 
John Burroughs. My reason for selecting Bur- 
roughs is that children are generally more inter- 
ested in living individuals. I show them his pic- 
ture and the picture of his home. I read some 
interesting. description of birds from natural his- 
tory — this is frequently illustrated and repro- 
duced as a language lesson. I read articles on 
"Hunting with a Kodak," hoping that they may 
awaken the boys' thoughts to the joy of harm- 
less pleasure and to the evil of taking life. For 
the girls, we study about the cruelty of using 
birds, their wings, and aigrettes on hats. Noth- 
ing better can be read to the children than 
Senator George F. Hoar's appeal to the Massa- 



44 SCHOOL ETHICS 

chusetts Legislature in behalf of birds. He 
makes the birds speak for themselves in the fol- 
lowing beautiful language. 

'"To the Great and General Court of the Com- 
monwealth of Massachusetts : 

"We, the song-birds of Massachusetts and 
their play-fellows, make our humble petition. 
We know more about you than you think wc 
do. We know how good you are. We have 
hopped about the roofs and looked in at the 
windows of the houses you have built for poor 
and sick and hungry people, and little lame and 
deaf and blind children. We have built our 
nests in the trees and sung many a song as we 
flew about the gardens and parks you have made 
so beautiful for your children, especially your 
poor children, to play in. Every year we fly a 
great w'ay over the country, keeping all the time 
where the sun is bright and w'arm. And we 
know that whenever you do anything the people 
all over this great land between the seas and 
the great lakes find it out, and pretty soon will 
try to do the same. We know. We know. 

"We are Americans, just the same as you are. 
Some of us, like some of you, came across the 
great sea. But most of the birds like us have 
lived here a long while, and the birds like us 
welcomed vour fathers when thev came here 



TEACHING KINDNESS 45 

many years ago. Our fathers and mothers have 
always done their best to please your fathers and 
mothers. 

"Now we have a sad story to tell you. 
Thoughtless or bad people are trying to destroy 
us. They kill us because our feathers are beau- 
tiful. Even pretty and sweet girls, who, we 
should think, would be our best friends, kill our 
brothers and children so that they may wear our 
plumage on their hats. Sometimes people kill us 
for mere wantonness. Cruel boys destroy our 
nests and steal our nests and young ones. Peo- 
ple with guns and snares lie in wait to kill us — 
as if the place for a bird were not in the sky, 
alive, but in a shop window, or in a glass case. 
If this goes on much longer all our song birds 
will be gone. Already we are told in some coun- 
tries that used to be full of birds that they are 
almost gone. Even the nightingales are being 
killed in Italy. 

"Now we humbly pray that you stop all this 
and save us from this sad fate. You have 
always made a law that no one shall kill a harm- 
less song-bird cr destroy our nests or our eggs. 
Will you make another one that no one shall 
wear our feathers, so that no one will kill us to 
get them? We w^ant them ourselves. Your 
pretty girls are pretty enough without them. 



46 SCHOOL ETHICS 

We are told it is as easy for you to do it as for 
a blackbird to whistle. 

"If von will, we know how to pay you a thou- 
sand times over. We will teach your children 
to keep themselves clean and neat. We will 
show you how to live together in peace and love, 
and to agree as we do in our nests. We will 
build pretty houses which you will like to see. 
We will play about your gardens and flower- 
beds — ourselves like flowers on wings — without 
any cost to you. We will destroy the wicked in- 
sects and worms that spoil your cherries and 
currants, and plums and apples and roses. We 
will give you our best songs, and make the 
spring more beautiful and the summer sweeter 
to you. Every June morning when you go out 
into the fields, oriole and bluebird, and black- 
bird and bobolink will fly after you and make 
the day more delightful to you. And when you 
go home after sundown vesper sparrow will tell 
you how grateful we are. When you sit down 
on your porch after dark, fifebird and hermit, 
thrush and woodthrush, will sing to you, an;l 
even whip-poor-will will cheer you up. We 
know where we are safe. Soon all the birds 
will come to live in Massachusetts again, and 
everybody who loves music will like a summer 
home with you." 



TEACHING KINDNESS 



47 



Brown Thrasher 
Hermit Thrush 
Song Sparrow 
Vesper Sparrow 
Scarlet Tanager 
Peewee 
Sandpiper 
Chewink 

Robert O'Lincoln 
Robin Redbreast 
Bhie Heron 
Hummingbird 
Whippoorwill 
Water Wagtail 
Woodpecker 
Wilson Thrush 
Indigo Bird 
King Bird 
Ccdarbird 



Swallow 

Cowbird 

Martin 

Vireo 

Oriole 

Lark 

A^eery 

Summer Redbird 

Blackbird 

Yellowbird 

Linnet 

Phoebe 

Yokebird 

Yellow Throat 

Chickadee 

Pigeon Woodpecker 

Wren 

Fifebird 



We take some beautiful poem about birds. 
There are so many it is difficult to make a selec- 
tion. '"The Sandpiper," "Who Stole the Bird's 
Nest?," "Robert O'Lincoln," "The Birds of Kil- 
lingworth," and "How the Woodpecker Served 
Hiawatha," are all excellent. This poem wj 
study very much as you study a selection in 
literature, memorizing certain parts. 



48 SCHOOL ETHICS 

If you wish your work to be a success do not 
make the mistake of doing all the talking. The 
teacher who does all the talking is generally 
left to do all the thinking. The only way to 
please, interest, and instrvict children is to let 
them do their part of the work, let them feci 
that they are contributing their share of the 
entertainment. Have them tell the story of the 
dove of Noah's ark, and in return you can tell 
about "Mother Goose's" birds and the "Babes 
in the Woods" and the story of Argus and 
Barnaby Rudge's raven. 

We do not forget the value derived from a 
hearty laugh so we have some humorous selec- 
tions. "Why Chickens Scratch," from "Nights 
With Uncle Remus," is a favorite humorous 
story with children. In connection with this 
work teach the pupils some of the many beauti- 
ful bird songs. "The Woodpecker," "The Blue 
Bird" and the "Whippoorwill" are excellent. 
All this will prove interesting to the children. 
Remember you cannot make any lasting im- 
pression upon their minds by telling a few sto- 
ries about birds, and reading a poem or two. It 
requires repeated and varied effort to accom- 
plish the desired result. "No virtue grows in 
a single day. It must be cultivated, trained, 



TEACHING KINDNESS 49 

pruned. Then indeed are its flowers beautiful — 
its fruits priceless." 

Next we take up the study of trees and plants, 
pursuing much the same plan as we did in the 
study of birds. I teach the pupils that trees and 
p'ants have life, that all Hfe is of God and is 
riven for a purpose. I read them articles about 
the useless destruction of trees and the conse- 
quence likely to result from such a course, im- 
pressing upon them that it is their duty to pro- 
tect and preserve the trees in all possible ways. 

The children should be told of the life and 
wonderful works of Luther Burbank. The 
proper presentation of his life teaches several 
useful lessons — to labor, to think, to originate, 
to be patient. It adds interest and dignity to 
agriculture, both as a study and an occupation. 

There is such a wealth of desirable material 
along this line that one has no trouble finding 
suitable reading stories, and memory gems. The 
following little program, copied largely from the 
Journal of Education, will doubtless prove help- 
ful and suggestive. 

AMERICAN FORESTS. 

Big trees of California. 

Pine Forests. 

The Petrified Forest. 



50 SCHOOL ETHICS 

FAMOUS FORESTS. 

Sherwood Forest. 
Windsor Forest. 
Black Forest. 
Arden Forest. 

HISTORIC TREES OF AMERICA. 

Penn's Elm. 
Charter Oak. 
Treaty Oak. 
Washington's Cherry. 
Arnold's Willow. 
Andrew's Thorn. 

TREES IN FICTION. 

Hiawatha's Trees. 

Chestnut Tree of Village Blacksmith. 

Pyncheon's Elms. 

"[['£ LOJ^E THE TREES." / 

Tune — "There's Music in the Air." 
We love the grand old trees, 

With the Oak. their royal king, 
And the Maple, forest queen, 

We to her our homage bring. 
And the elm with stately form, 
Long withstanding wind and storm, 
Pine, low whispering to the breeze. 



TEACHING KINDNESS 51 

O we love the grand old trees ! 

We love the grand old trees, 

The cedar bright above the snow, 

The poplar straight and tall, 
And the willow weeping low. 

Butternut, and walnut, too. 

Hickory so staunch and true, 

Basswood blooming for the bees. 

O we love the grand old trees. 

We love the grand old trees, 

The tulips branching broad and high, 

The beech with shining robe, 
And the birch so sweet and shy. 

Aged chestnuts fair to see, 

Holly bright with Christmas glee. 

Laurel crown for victories. 

O we love the grand old trees ! 

The Planting of the Apple Tree, What Wc 
plant When We Plant the Tree, and Woodman, 
Spare That Tree are poems that should be care- 
fully studied. H you teach the child to love the 
tree, to see its beauty, service, and value, you 
will indeed assist in the planting and the pn?- 
serving of the trees. 

Teach the children that flowers have their 
mission to perform, their work to do, that it is 
wrong to gather selfishly all the wild flowers, 
we should onlv take what we can use and leave 



52 SCHOOL ETHICS 

the rest to gladden others by their beauty and 
fragrance, that the blossom makes the seed, and 
if we gather all the flowers there will be no seed, 
that certain species, or kinds, have become ex- 
tinct just from the thoughtless, ignorant, or 
selfish habit of gathering all their blossoms. In 
the collections made, and the work done in na- 
ture study, keep the thought of life before the 
child, and not the thought of science. 

There are many beautiful flower myths to 
use. The origin of the Hyacinth, Sunflower, 
\'iolet. Aster and Goldenrod are stories that es- 
pecially appeal to children. The origin of In- 
dian corn, from Hicncaflia, is most beautiful, 
and, while a little long, yet the ethical value Is 
sufficient to make it worth your while to read 
the entire story to pupils. 

A school garden will help greatly in interest- 
ing and instructing pupils in plant life. If you 
cannot have a garden you can easily have a few 
plants in your room. It is always best to teach 
directly from nature, when possible, as Mother 
Nature's text-books are unsurpassed. 

The success of this plan depends almost en- 
tirely upon the teacher's knowledge of and in- 
terest in the subject, and her ability to select the- 
right kind of subject matter. It must be varied. 
You should not follow the advice of Thomas 



TEACHING KINDNESS 53 

Gradgrind, "Teach the boys and girls facts and 
nothing but facts." Facts, stories, poems, 
legends, and fables must be judiciously and har- 
moniously blended together and woven into one 
complete and interesting whole ; for it is the 
reaction of the subject in response to the stim- 
ulus of its surroundings that counts, and we can 
not tell what will quicken and strengthen the 
mental and spiritual growth of each child. 

Doubtless there are teachers who say, "I 
have all the work I can do, and were I to at- 
tempt to carry out your suggestions I should 
have no time- for my regular classes." ]\lost 
teachers have classes enough, it is true, but by 
skilfully planning your work, by judiciously 
correlating and wisely using your time much can 
be accomplished. There are short periods be- 
tween classes, little delays caused by irregularity 
in ringing the bell, idle moments here and there 
during the day, that a "little study and practice 
will enable one to use advantageously. It is the 
use of these odds and ends of time that really 
determine a teacher's value. You cannot do the 
work mentioned in a few days. Our work, as 
teachers, is not rapid building, but secure build- 
ing on the right foundation. It is not the quan- 
tity of reading and talking you do, but the qual- 
ity, and what the child gets out of it, that counts. 



54 SCHOOL ETHICS 

Arouse the child's interest in the subject, and 
his desire for knowledge, but never satisfy it. 
Let him investigate for himself. Do whatever 
amount of work about the subject that seems 
advisable, and after a while come back to it. In 
this way you avoid tiring the child, and the re- 
turn to the topic furnishes an excellent memory 
test. However, the work must be continued 
from year to year. 

By following these simple, inexpensive meth- 
ods you are teaching, in a most practical way, 
morals, nature study, history, geography, agri- 
culture and literature. You have placed your- 
self and the pupils on a higher intellectual and 
moral plane, yet you have done it without effort. 
"It was so easy!" (as the children say.) So 
pleasant ! There were times when you ceased 
to realize you were teaching and the children 
were unconscious of learning. If we could 
always teach in this way, the good we would do 
only eternity could tell! Parents would arise 
and call us blessed, for no longer would they 
have to force the child to go to school. 



A FLOWER LESSON. 

"So for Thy garden take my heart, 

To shape and mold the human part, 

And work with it Thy will divine, 

Till it conform to thought of Thine. 

Thy Father-hand take not away, 

O Gardener divine ! but stay 

And work it well, and till and sow 

Diviner seed than I can know. 

Grant me the prayer to be one field 

White with the Lord's great harvest yield." 

IF you had visited my school-room often 
you would doubtless have heard requests 
similar to the following, "Please let us 
have a Flower Lesson this rhorning." "If we 
are real good and get through our lessons in 
time, may we have a Flower Lesson?" 

You would naturally think the pupils referred 
to some method of nature study, but the lesson 
alluded to has reference to spiritual, or mental, 
flowers, not material flowers. It is a method I 
devised after reading the following beautiful 
story to the children. 

FINDING WHAT WE LOOK FOR. 
By Elizabeth Earl loncs. 

Did you ever notice that we generally find 
what we look for? If we look for love we find 
it, and if we look for little slights and injus- 
[55] 



56 SCHOOL ETHICS 

tices we seem to see them, too, whether they are 
intended or not. There was an interesting story 
once told of a beautiful country, whose queen 
was well-nigh broken hearted because the ladies 
and gentlemen of her court were so critical and 
unkind. They talked very badly about one an- 
other and seemed to see only evil everywhere 
and in every one. One morning this wise little 
queen called her court to assemble. When all 
were gathered she commissioned two courtiers 
to go out into, her kingdom, and to bring to her 
specimens of plans and flowers. One courtier 
was commissioned to collect a specimen of every 
thorny shrub and weed, said to be poisonous, in 
the kingdom, and to return with them to the 
palace two months later. The other courtier 
was charged with the pleasanter task of gather- 
ing specimens of all the beautiful flowers that 
blossomed within the borders of this country, 
and he, too, was to return two months later. 
Then the courtiers mounted and rode away. 

"What can this mean?" questioned the aston- 
ished ladies and gentlemen of the court. "Has 
our queen gone mad?" 

Two months slowly passed, and once more the 
court was assembled. All, with curious expec- 
tancy, awaited the arrival of the courtiers. 

A trumpet in the courtyard sounded, and pres- 



A FLOWER LESSON 57 

ently, down the long corridor came a weary, 
ragged man. His steps dragged slowly; his 
brow was careworn, and in his arms were rank 
weeds and ugly briars. He approached his 
queen. Saluting her with the usual deep cour- 
tesy, "Your Majesty," he solemnly began, 
"your kingdom, once so fair and beautiful that 
the fame thereof has gone far beyond the seas, 
is fast going to ruin." 

"To ruin!" exclaimed the sweet- faced queen. 

"Yes," was the stern reply. "These briars 
and poisonous weeds tell their own sad story. 
I find them everywhere." 

Just then the trumpet sounded again, and in 
rushed a happy youth, with cheeks aglow, and 
with a wreath of fragrant wild-cherry blossoms 
wound about his flowing locks. His arms were 
full of beautiful flowers, which shed sweet per- 
fume wherever he went. 

"Your Majesty!" exclaimed this courtier, with 
a graceful bow, and lightly touching his lips to 
the outstretched hand of the queen, "Your king- 
dom is glorious ! Long have I heard its praises 
sung, but never until now have I known the 
half of its wealth of loveliness and joy." 

"Indeed !" exclaimed the queen, "and did you 
find flowers everywhere?" 

"Everywhere!" cried the courtier. 



58 SCHOOL ETHICS 

Then turning to the first comer, the queen in- 
quired of him : "Did you see any flowers in my 
kingdom ?" 

"Flowers, your majesty!" exclaimed the as- 
tonished courtier, "You told me to look for 
thorns and weeds — I did not look for flowers." 

Then turning to the other courtier, the queen 
inquired : "And did you find many thorns and 
briars, as well as flowers?" 

'T did not see any thorns and briars," he an- 
swered. "The flowers were everywhere ; they 
were so beautiful, and your majesty did not ask 
me to look for thorns and briars. No, I only saw 
the flowers." 

There was a silence, a silence that spoke more 
than words to the heart of the loving queen, for 
she saw that her people understood. 

"This is a beautiful story, but it is also very 
practical, and now we want to begin to put it 
into practice — all of us, big and little. Let us 
wake in the morning with this resolve: T will 
find flowers today. Only love, truth, and kind- 
ness can come to me, today, and I am resolved 
to love everyone more and more.' 

"Then, when evening comes, and the little 
birds begin to sing their good-night songs, and 
all is quiet again, let us think once more of the 



A FLOWER LESSON 59 

day passed, and ask ourselves: 'What have I 
gathered and given today?' 

"If we find any ugly thorns of disobedience, 
self-will, or anger, or if we feel the pricks of the 
briars of resentment and pride, we must weed 
them all out, forgive and love more, and when 
our eyelids close in sleep, the soft-winged angels 
of peaceful trust will minister unto us." 

The children are familiar with the story, so 
we do not always read it, but they occasionally 
want to hear it again, for repetition is one of the 
pleasures of childhood. 

We pretend that "the good queen" has sent 
each child in search of flowers — the flowers are 
the good things we find in the life, or character, 
of our playmates. 

We begin by repeating in concert the follow- 
ing verses : 

"I will find flowers today. Only love, truth 
and kindness can come to me, or go from me, 
today, and I will love everyone more and more." 
"There is nothing to know but Truth, 
There is nothing to do but love ; 
There is no place to go where God is not. 
The wide, wide world is a garden spot: 
Where the flowers of Truth eternally bloom, 
Where the tares and weeds can find no room. 
For there is no .place where God is not." 



60 SCHOOL ETHICS 

Then I say, "Paul, what flowers do you find 
in Edward's garden?" 

"He is a kind boy, is always willing to do you 
a favor, and does not get angry when you play 
with him." 

"Then, Edward's garden is fragrant and beau- 
tiful with the flowers of kindness, willingnesr-, 
and good-humor. 

"Samuel, what flowers do you see in Tom- 
mie's garden?" 

"Tommie is a funny boy ; he is always saying 
and doing something to make you laugh." 

"You find the flowers of wit and fun bloom- 
ing in Tommie's garden. It is well worth our 
while to cultivate such flowers, for the Bible 
tells us : 'A merry heart doeth good like a medi- 
cine.' 

"Ola, what flowers do you find in Irma's gar- 
den?" 

"She always knows her lessons, and obe^s 
every rule of school." 

"The plants of industry and obedience not 
only make Irma's garden lovely and fragrant, 
but they are so useful, so valuable, they yield a 
continual harvest. Do you know the harvest 
w^e gather from the flowers of industry and 
obedience? Friends, love, respect, knowledge, 
position, and wealth are some of the fruits we 



A FLOWER LESSON 61 

gather from these flowers. No one can ever be 
poor in any sense if he assiduously* cultivates 
these flowers. May they bloom in all our gar- 
dens !" 

"Myrtle, what flowers bloom in Ethel's gar- 
den?" 

"I don't see any." 

"You have not looked carefully, for there arc 
flowers blooming in everybody's garden. You 
must remember there are so many kinds of 
flowers. Roses, lilies, poppies, and the gor- 
geous sunflowers are easily seen ; the dainty vio- 
lets and pansies are not so noticeable, yet they 
are just as beautiful and as much loved as their 
sumptuous neighbors. There are flowers so 
small that they cannot be seen with the naked 
eye, but when we look at them through a micro- 
scope we are surprised at their loveliness. So it 
is in these mental gardens of ours. We do not 



*Do not talk down to children too much. Use 
whatever words best express your meaning, 
then take time to teach pupils the meaning of 
the words, and how to use them. If the child's 
vocabulary were increased just one word a day 
it would soon do away with the present poverty 
of speech. There would be no necessity of over- 
working a few words until they lose their 
original meanine. 



62 SCHOOL ETHICS 

all cultivate the same kind of flowers. Some- 
times we are even too indolent to till our gar- 
dens, but let the weeds and briars overrun them 
tuitil it becomes difficult to find the flowers ; but 
if we look long enough, carefully enough, and 
lovingly enough we shall find flowers in all our 
gardens. I know there are flowers in Ethel".! 
garden, and I want some one to find them. What 
have you found, Harold?" 

"She does comb her hair nicely." 

"Indeed she does. Her hair is always well 
combed and prettily arranged, so the flower of 
neatness blooms in Ethel's garden." 

We proceed in this way until we find a 
flower, or flowers, in each child's garden. 

I use the little story in various other ways. 
The pupils were marching in after recess, and 
some one called out, "I wish you would look at 
Harold, he is not marching at all, and is just 
stepping on my heels." 

I shut my eyes and say, "I am sorry, Harry, 
but if Harold is acting that way, I do not wish to 
look at him. 'The good queen' has sent me to 
search for flowers, and I must not waste my 
time looking at weeds and thorns." However, 
when I surreptitiously glance at Harold I find 
that he, with rather a shame-faced smile, is or- 
derly marching on. 



A FLOWER LESSON 63 

One of my boys was very forgetful. One 
morning he said, "O ! I forgot my report card 
again, and I promised I would bring it this 
morning sure!" 

I reply, "You are too industrious a boy to 
permit the injurious weed of forgetfulness to 
grow in your garden. You must pull it up. 
Why is this a good day to uproot weeds?" 

"It has been raining, the ground is soft, and 
the roots come up easily," 

"Yes, that is the reason, so I will excuse you a 
few moments and let you go home and pull up 
this ugly weed of forgetfulness." 

Jack, with a pleasant smile, leaves the room ; 
in a short while he returns, still accompanied by 
the smile, and hands me his report card. 

This mode of looking for good will help the 
teacher, as much, or more than the pupils ; for 
we can do nothing for a child until we love him, 
and we cannot love him when we see only the 
evil in him ; and this method enables us to find 
the good. It awakens us to a gradual realiza- 
tion of the truth of the Master's words : "Suffer 
the little children, to come unto me, and forbid 
them not : for of such is the kingdom of heaven.'^ 



MEMORY GEMS. 

Make yourselves nests of pleasant thoughts ! None 
of us yet know, for none of us have been taught in 
early youth, what fairy palaces we may build of beau- 
tiful thoughts, proof against all adversity; bright fan- 
cies, satisfied memories, noble histories, faithful say- 
ings, treasure-houses of precious and restful thoughts 
which care cannot disturb, nor pain make gloomy, nor 
poverty take away from us ; houses built without hands 
for our souls to live in. ^Ruskin. 

SOME one has aptl}^ said, "Beaitty is 
God's hand-writing." Doubtless the au- 
thor had reference to the beavtties of na- 
ture, but expression is much more inclusive. 
Since all is of God he is as much the creator of 
a beautiful thought as he is the creator of a 
beautiful landscape, a gorgeous sunset, or a 
lovely flower. So I love to think of the beatitiful 
thoughts as "God's hand-writing" that all his 
children ma}- read. 

"A thing of beauty is a joy forever, 
Its loveliness increases, it will never 
Pass into iiothingness." 
This is indeed true in regard to the beautiftil 
thoughts with which this world is filled. All 
things of real beauty must stand the test of re- 
newed friendships. "A thing of beauty" can 
never grow old and lose its worth by repetition. 
[64] 



MEMORY GEMS 65 

There is something radically wrong when such 
appears to be the case. The right kind of repe- 
tition of any noble or beautiful thought endears 
the lines to us. When you hear teachers and 
pupils say they are tired of the same old memory 
gems, they cannot bear to hear them, you may 
know that the teacher is not interested in the 
work, and has not devoted time enough to it to 
make a success of it. 

Such an assertion will cause some teachers to 
smile a superior smile, and to entertain a feeling 
of pity for one of their number who is so be- 
nighted as to think it requires any special pre- 
paration to teach as simple a thing as a memory 
gem. Notwithstanding your incredulity, I main- 
tain that it is indeed a difficult and responsible 
work to teach a little child a memory gem cor- 
rectly. 

Ask the average teacher why she has so much 
memory work, and the probabilities are she 
gives you a little, surprised stare and conde- 
scendingly replies, 'Tt strengthens the memory." 
Right here I wish to send up a paean of 
thanksgiving for those four little words ! There 
is no sentence to which we public-school teachers 
are more indebted. It is so elastic, so obliging; 
like charity, it covereth a multitude of faults, in 
ourselves and the curriculuiu. It matters not to 



66 SCHOOL ETHICS 

what the angry and in some instances, long-suf- 
fering parent objects, whether it is clay model- 
ing or Euclid, basket-making or Mrgil, you have 
only to assume a Minerva-like air and sagely re- 
mark, "It strengthens the memory," and lo, you 
have routed the enemy, you have gained the day ! 
Strange to say, this simple little sentence is be- 
yond the comprehension of the majority of 
parents, and its use will extricate one from an)' 
pedagogic dilemma. 

Certainly, all memory work strengthens the 
mind. However, if we hold to the thought that 
our work as teachers is character-building we 
readily see that the chief aim of the memory 
gern is to fill the child's mind with beautiful, 
wholesome, helpful truths. 

If a friend were to request you to select the 
furniture for her home, you would be impressed 
W'ith the importance of the task, and would 
spend time and thought upon the subject. You 
would never think of rushing to the nearest fur- 
niture store and thoughtlessly accepting the fir^t 
thing ofifered you ; yet in case you should select 
undesirable furniture, your friend is not forced 
to use it. She can dispose of it in some way, and 
no permanent harm is done. 

Think how much more important is the fur- 
nishing of the child's mental home! Yet there 



MEMORY GEMS 67 

are teachers who hurriedly jerk up a book, care- 
lessly turn over a few leaves, and aimlessly as- 
sign for memory work the first thing they see 
that meets the requirement in regard to length. 
The child is forced to accept and to use, for his 
thought-house, the furniture that you provide, 
no matter how worthless or inappropriate it may 
be. It is not enough that }'0u teach the child 
nothing evil, you must teach him something 
good. You must fill his mental home with good, 
pure, noble thoughts, for if it is not so filled It 
w411 not remain empty, but will be furnished by 
undesirable thoughts. In after years when the 
man recognizes the worthlessness of his 
thought furniture and wishes to discard it, he 
finds it a difficult and laborious task to eradi- 
cate the thoughts your carelessness or ignor- 
ance assisted in planting. 

Any teacher who hurriedly or aimlessly as- 
signs memory w^ork is guilty of wrong-doing. 
There is no part of your school work you need 
to study more assiduously, for it is one of the 
best ways we have of planting good seed in the 
mind of the child, one of the most efifective ways 
of cultivating the child's ethical nature. 

All aimless work must necessarily be poor 
work, so when you select a sentence, verse, or 
poem for pupils to memorize, select it with the 



68 SCHOOL ETHICS 

thought of having it teach some useful lesson. 
And yet it is not enough that the selection 
teaches a useful lesson: it must teach it in such 
a way as to please the child, to take hold of his 
thought. To secure the interest of the pupil it 
is not necessary for you to descend to his intel- 
lectual plane. Children are interested in stories 
and poems that often seem beyond their compre- 
hension. They derive many impulses of a most 
powerful and important kind from the very 
things that they cannot entirely comprehend. 
The best of English and the best of literature 
are none too good for the child. 

Remember that the pupils will most likely see 
no more in the subject than you see. So first 
be certain that you yourself see the truth, the 
worth, of what you are trying to impress upon 
the minds of the pupils. 

Every few weeks in my school we review all 
the memory work we have had. If, through a 
press of other work, I become somewhat dila- 
tory about these reviews, the pupils invariably 
remind me of the fact, and insist upon having 
them. Though some of the children have been 
repeating many of the verses for two years, they 
are not tired of them, for they have learned them 
in such a way as to love them. 

Sometimes the pupils alternate in saving these 



MEMORY GEMS 69 

verses. One of the advantages of such a re'iew 
is, that the teacher is enabled by the child's re- 
peated voluntary selection of the same verse to 
form an estimate of his character, talent and 
desires. It is interesting and in some instances 
surprising to notice the selections made by chil- 
dren. Little Rubert. one of my third-grade 
boys, invariably repeated these lines from Lin- 
coln, "I am not bound to win, but I am bound 
to be true, I am not bound to succeed, but I am 
bound to live up to the light I have. I must 
stand with anybody who is right, stand with him 
while he is right, and part with him when he 
goes wrong." 

The mode that appeals most to the children 
is a memory gem match, conducted just as a 
spelling match, each child giving a quotation in- 
stead of spelling a word. 

Sometimes we say the verses in concert. I 
start a verse and the pupils join in repeating it; 
as soon as we finish that selection some child 
begins another, and we recite with him, contin- 
uing in this way until we have exhausted our 
supply. 

When we learn an entire poem we repeat it 
in concert. Sometimes the girls have one selec- 
tion and the boys another. This is my girls' 
favorite poem : 



70 SCHOOL ETHICS 

A GARDEN IN WINTER. 

A dear little lady, as sweet as the j\Iay, 
Said she wanted to plant flowers the whole live- 
long day, 
"The weather is cold, and 'tis winter I know, 
But I'll try it." said she, "and I think that 

they'll grow !" 
When the baby fell down she was first to his 

aid ; 
She gave him a kiss, did this sweet little maid. 
"Jump up and don't cry. for I love you," said 

she, 
And Johnny-jump-ups blossomed gaily, you see! 
'Twas a chill winter's day, and yet once in a 

while 
A sunflower blossomed, and that was a smile- 
Sweet peas were her "thank you," and other 

kind words, 
And the songs that she sang fluttered light a^ 

a bird ! 
The house was a garden. The light in her eyes 
Made it blossom with daisies in spite of chill 

skies ; 
And when grandmama said there was some- 
thing to do 
For-get-me-nots started, so gentle and true ! 
This dear little lady as sweet as the May, 



MEMORY GEMS 71 

Went about planting flowers the whole live-long 

day, 
"You're a flower yourself," said her mother at 

night ; 
"My dear little Heartsease, my Ladies' De- 
light." 
]\Iy boys always enjoy repeating the follow- 
ing: 

THE BOY WHO CLINGS TO MOTHER. 

The boy who clings to mother 

And helps her all he can 
To bear her many burdens 

Will be a manly man. 
His heart will grow in goodness 

And love from day to day, 
And God will surely keep him 

From going far astray. 
The boy who clings to mother 

Will never lack a song, 
And bright will be his pathway 

Though be the journey long. 
True peace and sweet contentment 

Will his companions be 
And light and love will crown him 

For all eternity. 
For both boys and girls : 



72 SCHOOL ETHICS 

SIX TREASURES: 

Little words in love expressed, 

Little wrongs at once confessed.. 

Little favors kindly done, 

Little toils thou didst not shun, 

Little graces meekly worn, 

Little slights with patience born — 

These are treasures that shall rise 

Far beyond the smiling skies. — Selected. 

In addition to these general reviews we make 
daily use of the verses we learn and the stories 
we read. Suppose some of the little girls have 
had a disagreement, a quarrel. One faction 
comes to report what good girls they are 
and how shamefully they have been treated. 
No sooner do they begin to enumerate their 
grievances than the "other side" manifest a 
most ardent desire to recount their own perfec- 
tions and to enlarge upon the abusive treatment 
heaped upon themselves. Instead of listening to 
their woful story, reproving them for quarrel- 
ing, and requesting them to remain after school 
for punishment, I tell them to be seated and ask 
the children to guess what verses I am thinking 
of. A number of hands go up and this answer 
is given : 

"The world is good and the people are good, 



MEMORY GEMS 73 

And we are all good fellows together." 
"That is one; what is the other?" Some one 
begins : 

"There is so much good in the worst of us. 
And so much bad in the best of us 
That it hardly behooves any of us 
To talk about the rest of us." 

"Yes, these are the verses I was thinking 
about. Every one in the. room repeat them with 
me, please." We repeat the verses, and then I 
say, 

"The trouble this morning is, these little girls 
have forgotten how good the world is and what 
'good fellows" we all are. If they had only re- 
membered they could not have been ugly or un- 
kind to each other in word, deed, or thought. 
You see it is so easy to remember how good we 
are. but so hard to remember the "other fellow' 
is good, too. Xow, dear little Lucy has been 
thinking what a good girl she is and what a had 
girl Ouida is, while Ouida has been thinking T 
am all right, but Lucy's all zvrong.' It is no 
Avonder such wrong thoughts have produced 
wrong results. Remember, children, bad 
thoughts make us speak bad words and do bad 
deeds. It is the ugly, unkind thoughts that 
make us do the thinsfs we are ashamed of. 



74 SCHOOL ETHICS 

Whenever we think these wicked thoughts about 
each other we are not keeping the Golden Rule, 
for no one of us wants people to think ugly 
thoughts about us any more than we want them 
to treat us in an ugly manner. Let us repeat 
the Golden Rule. 'Whatsoever ye would that 
men should do to you, do ye even so to them.' 

"If you only remember this you cannot quar- 
rel, or talk unkindly about each other. We can 
net afford to forget, for whenever we forget the 
Truth we get into trouble. Now hereafter I 
know you will remember and be kind and lov- 
ing to each other. 

"Here is a new memory gem that I wish you 
to copy and learn." 

'Keep thoughts of others kind and true. 
Then others will be kind to you.' 
"I will read you a little fairy story that, like 
many other fairy stories, teaches a most useful 
lesson. When things do not go just right with 
you, this little story will help you to right the 
wrong." 

THE JUST LIKE YOU COUNTRY. 

When Robin had passed through the Ivory 

''^ate of Dreams, he was very glad to find his 

rv godmother waiting for him. "Oh I'm so 



MEMORY GEMS 75 

glad to see you, Fairy Godmother," he said, as 
he ran towards her. "I've had such a horrid 
time today. My hair wouldn't brush this morn- 
ing, and I spilled my milk at breakfast, and the 
cat scratched me, and mother was cross, and 
Katy said I was a nuisance, and just everything 
hateful has happened." 

"I know all about it, laddie dear, but tonight 
you've come to the Just Like You Country, and 
perhaps what you see here will help you not to 
have any more such horrid days. And now I 
must leave you, for in this country, you must 
find your way alone." And with a kiss as light 
as a butterfly's wing, she was gone. 

"But Fairy Godmother ! Fairy Godmother ! 
I don't want to be alone ! I don't want you to 
go away!" Robin called again and again, and 
when he found it no use, sat down and began to 
cry as hard as he could. 

For a few minutes he cried aw^ay ; then he sud- 
denly realized that though the sun had been 
shining brightly before, the rain was falling 
now. He looked up through his tears, and saw 
great drops falling from every leaf of the tree 
under which he sat, oozing from between the 
petals of the flowers, dripping from the plu- 
mage of the birds, and then — why, sure enough, 
there sat a squirrel on his hind legs, both front 



76 SCHOOL ETHICS 

paws up to his face, while tears trickled down 
slowly between them. Everything about was 
crying with him. 

For an instant Robin was puzzled, then he 
burst out angrily, "Stop making fun of me, 
all you things. It is real mean of you, and I 
won't have it. so there now. Stop it I say !" 
And he stamped his foot in a fierce temper, then 
stood amazed. For though all the tears had 
stopped with his own, everything else was ap- 
parently in just as fierce a temper as he was. 
No rain fell now, but the thunder growled 
threateningly ; the wind sighed no longer, but 
whirled the leaves about in fierce gusts ; the 
birds were scolding and making angry dashes at 
each other; the squirrel wept no longer, but 
chattered his teeth fiercely ; the thorns of a rose 
spray were tearing at his coat ; and even the vio- 
lets were shaking their heads as if challenging 
each other to come on and fight. 

At first Robin did not know what to make of 
all this, but all at once he remembered what his 
fairy godmother had told him. "Oh. I see what 
she means. In the Just Like You Country 
everything acts just the same as you do. Why, 
how funny!" And he burst into the merriest 
laugh. 

Quick as a wink out came the sun and 



MEMORY GEMS 77 

changed every raindrop into a sparkling dia- 
mond; the birds burst into the jolHest songs; 
the squirrel displayed his shining teeth in a 
broad grin, and you couldn't have told whether 
the rustle of the leaves or the rippling of the 
brook was the happier, or whether the roses or 
the violets were the sweeter. 

Just before Robin passed back through the 
Ivory Gates into a new morning, he heard his 
Fairy Godmother saying, "It's just the same, 
dear, reall}-, in the daylight world as here in the 
Just Like You Country, though you don't see it 
so plain. It will give back to you what you give 
to it." 

And to his mother as she bent over him with 
his good-morning kiss, and, "Mother is glad to 
see her laddie wake up so happy," Robin de- 
clared very earnestly, "Mother, I'm just not go- 
ing to , have any more horrid days, no, never. 
Fairy Godmother has shown me how not to 
have them." 

A talk sixTiilar to this will not only do away 
with the anger and resentment of children who 
have been quarreling, but will have a most salut- 
ary effect upon all the pupils. No amount of cen- 
sure or punishment will be productive of the 
good that will result from this method. 

There are few^ things that occasion more dis- 



78 SCHOOL ETHICS 

cord in school than unnecessary talking. Whis- 
pering during school hours, interrupting, criti- 
cising fellow pupils' dress and manner, repeating 
unkind remarks, are all pernicious traits that 
should be overcome. 

I have helped my pupils greatly by taking a 
week to study about the tongue. I read and tell 
them stories that bring out the thought of the 
injury we do ourselves and others by unneces- 
sary talking. The story of Chet Timson is fine. 
The judicious use of ridicule and humor prove 
effective factors in many cases. David Harum's 
quaint and humorous sayings will not only 
amuse the child, but will impress upon his mind 
the necessity of controlling his tongue. 

I explain to the children that only the small- 
est rainds occupy themselves with persons, that 
we should talk about objects, things, thoughts. 
I try to show them that charity of speech is as 
divine a thing, and often a more difficult thing, 
than charity of deed. 

The following selections are appropriate for 
memory work: 

"Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue 
keepeth his soul from trouble." 

"Of a tattling tongue take care, beware!" 
"In a multitude of words there wanteth not 



MEMORY GEMS 79 

sin ; but he that refraineth his lips is wise." 

"Keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips from 
speaking guile." 

"He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life, 
but he that openeth wide his lips shall have de- 
struction." 

"It is a good thing to have command of a 
foreign tongue, but far better to have command 
of one's own tongue." 

"The best opening for a young man is his 
mouth — if he keeps it shut." — Sam Jones. 

THE WORD THAT OFTEN WINS. 

Here's to the unspoken word: it never starts a 

quarrel. 
It never hurts a friend, and it never does a 

wrong ; 
It never brings unhappiness ; it ever wins the 

laurel 
That victors wear who curb their speech and 

grow through silence strong. 
Here's to the unspoken word; it has the 

strength of twenty; 
At home, in school, in business it is a power 

indeed ; 
Patience walks beside it, love goes hand in hand 

with it, 



80 SCHOOL ETHICS 

And brave and happy are the souls that hold to 
it in need. " 

I teach the children not only the sin of pro- 
fanity, but the uselessness of it, that oaths add 
no strength to any assertion. We memorize the 
following Eible verses : 

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord 
thy God in vain ; for the Lord will not hold him 
guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 

— Exodus XX : 7. 

But I say unto you, swear not at all. neither 
by heaven ; for it is God's throne. 

Nor by the earth ; for it is his footstool ; 
neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the 
great King. 

Neither shall thou swear by thy head, be- 
cause thou canst not make one hair white or 
black. 

But let your communications be Yea, yea, 
Nay, nay : for whatsoever is more than these 
cometh of evil. — Matthew v. : 34-35-36-37. 

A storm, or the appearance of a storm, will 
produce something like a panic in a school-room. 
At such a time tell the pupils of God's love for 
his children and his power to take care of them 
at all times. Have them repeat the twenty-third 
Psalm an^ the following beautiful lines: 



MEMORY GEMS 81 

"Know well, my child, God's hand controls 
Whate'er thou feajcest. 
Round him in calmest music rolls 

AMiate'er thou hearest. — Whittier. 

"God is my help in every need, 
God does my every hunger feed, 
God walks beside me, guides my Way, 
Through every moment of this day." ■ 
There are times when the pupils appear rest- 
less and nervous. Then it is well to say : "Let 
us put our books away and go to the kitchen 
(children love to pretend) and do some baking. 
The bo}-s must help with the cooking as much 
as the girls. We all need to make 'Angel Food 
Cake.' Rise and let us go to work." They 
recite: 

AX GEL FOOD CAKE. 

A little more rest and a little less hurry, 

A little more calm and a little less worry, 

A volume of smiles and an ocean of love, 

A face as serene as the blue sky above ; 

A life full of trust and no longing or sighing. 

No space and no room left for sorrow or crying. 

The result is sure to come without having to 

bake. 
And you'll find it far sweeter than the sweetest 

of cake. 



CHEERFULNESS. 

" 'Tis a beauteous fashion to be glad. 
Joy is the gratitude we say to God." 

ONE of the greatest promoters of work 
and the quickest dispellers of discord 
is good humor. We may honestly try 
to do as much work when vexed or angry as 
Vvdien in good humor, but we are so consti- 
tuted that we work better when we have a 
song in our hearts and a smile on our lips. 

One of the most profitable crops a teacher can 
cultivate is good humor, first in herself and 
then in her pupils. Bad humor produces so 
much that is undesirable and unnecessary. It is 
the angry, sulky child that refuses to study and 
comply with the rules of school, while it is the 
angry, pessimistic teacher who punishes un- 
justly and unnecessarily. There is no greater 
smoother of school-room worries than cheer- 
fulness. As long as you keep the pupils in a 
good humor — and that is just so long as you 
remain in a good humor — you have absolute 
control, you will have good order and good les- 
sons. 

[82] 



CHEERFULNESS 83 

Besides, there is scarcely any quality you 
could cultivate that would be of more advantage 
to the child. The good-natured person is the 
happy owner of a quality second to none in ac- 
tual attractiveness. It is a powerful magnet 
that draws all persons to its owner. It is an 
open sesame to popularity. It blesses not only 
the possessor, but all the world, for we are all 
lovers and beneficiaries of sunshine, of smiling 
faces, of happy thoughts, of kind deeds. We 
have taught the performance of duty brings 
happiness, let us also teach it is a duty to be 
happy. 

Be sure that the child gets the right idea of 
what constitutes fun, and that there is a time 
for all things. Teach him that it is low, nay des- 
picable, to laugh at an obscene story, that it is 
cruel to have fun at another's expense. Goethe 
says, "Tell me what a man laughs at and I will 
read you his character." Remember there can 
be no true or lasting happiness or enjoyment 
without a clear conscience, which only comes 
from a knowledge of duties well done. If you 
wish to teach a child to be happy you must teach 
him to be thoughtful and considerate of others, 
helpful, obedient, and industrious. Selfishness 
is ever a bar to happiness and usefulness. 

Some teachers, many writers of text-books. 



84 SCHOOL ETHICS 

and the majority of parents, endeavor to make 
accomplishment easy for the child. This is a 
mistake. We should teach him to accomplish, 
convince him that nothing" of real value ever 
comes to him without effort on his own part, 
that he must labor to gain all desirable posses- 
sions. Explain that education means the bring- 
ing out of the best that is in one, spiritually, 
mentally, and physically ; that this can only be 
accomplished by work, by effort, by growth ; 
that education is the result of individual effort 
and consists in doing things, not merely knowing 
things ; that work, labor, service, dignifies and 
ennobles. I teach my pupils if they wish to be 
liapp}-, and to make others happy they must not 
form tlie habit of complaining, of criticising, of 
fault-finding, a habit of looking for shadows, for 
"Love taketh no account of evil, but rejoiceth 
with the truth." For several years we have cul- 
tivated cheerfulness so assiduously and so suc- 
cessfully that our smile has become almost as 
pronounced as the smile of the "Cheshire Cat," 
and, when anything unpleasant occurs we 
"come cut so strong and are so jolly" that Mark 
Tapley, the prince of good humor, Avould ap- 
prove of us. 

Here are some of our happy thought verses, 
that no one can learn without lieing in a happier 



CHEERFULNESS 85 

and better frame of mind. However, it is the 
daily practice of the thoughts they contain that 
gradually makes your life and the children's 
lives sweeter, better, more joyous and more use- 
ful. 

The following little stories come in oppor- 
tunely. 

WHERE J\4X LEFT OFF. 

A'an is four years old, and very proud of the 
fact that he could dress himself — all but the 
buttons "ahind." For this he backs up to his 
father and gets a bit of help. 

One morning \"an was in a great hurry to 
get to some important work (the marching of 
an army, or something of that sort) so he hur- 
ried to get into his clothes, and. of course they 
bothered him. Things w'ould get upside down,' 
"hind side before." while the way the arms and 
legs of these same things got mixed w^as dread- 
ful to contemplate. So it was not a very pleas- 
ant face that came to father for the finishing 
touches. 

"There, everything is on now!" exclaimed 
\'an. 

''Why no, \'an," father , said soberly: "you 
haven't put on everything yet." 

A an carefully inspected his clothes, from the 



€6 SCHOOL ETHICS 

tip of his small toe to the broad collar about his 
neck. He could find nothing wanting. 

"You haven't put your smile on yet," said 
father, with the tiny wrinkles creeping about his 
own eyes. "Put it on, Van, and I'll button it up 
for you." 

And Van began to put it on then and there. 
After that he always remembered that he could 
not call himself dressed for the day until he put 
a sunny face atop of the white collar and Scotch 
plaid necktie. 

IVHEN HE WAS THANKFUL. 

"I can't think what you can find to sing 
about," said a blackbird to a thrush, who was 
pouring out a joyous carol from the top of an 
old stump. 

"Can't you?" said the thrush, "I can't help 
singing when I am thankful." 

"That's just it," said the blackbird, "I can 
sing as well as any one when there's anything to 
be thankful for; but the ground is as hard as 
iron, there isn't a berry in the garden, and where 
I am to get my breakfast from I'm sure I don't 
know. Perhaps you have had yours?" 

"Not yet," said the thrush. 

"Well, I would wait for my song till I had 



CHEERFULNESS 87 

found some food, if I were you," said the black- 
bird. 

"I've never gone without yet, and I have no 
doubt I shall find some presently; at all events, 
it is a fancy I have to begin the day with a 
song." 

"Trust me, scholar, it is the part of wisdom 
to spend little of your time upon the things that 
vex and anger you, and much upon the things 
that bring you quietness, and confidence and 
good cheer." — Henry van Dyke. 

A MORNING RESOLVE. 

"Everything happy, and everything gay — 
These are the things I will talk of today. 
Everything sorrowful, dreadful and wrong — 
These are the things I will keep from my 

tongue. 
Everything gentle and everything kind — 
These are the things I will hold in mind. 
Everything hateful and everything low — 
These are things I'm resolved not to know 
Everything helpful and everything fine — 
These are the things for these small hands of 

mine. 
Everything lazy and everything mean — 
These I will leave and in God's sig^ht be clean/' 



88 SCHOOL ETHICS 

"Suppose we think little about number one; 
Suppose we all help some on^ else have fun ; 
Suppose we ne'er speak of the faults of a 

friend, 
Suppose we are ready our own to mend ; 
Suppose we laugh with and not at other folks 
And never hurt anyone 'just for a joke.' 
Suppose we hide trouble and only show cheer, 
'Tis likely we'll have quite a Happy New 
Year!" 

"Think seldom of your enemies, often of your 
friends, and every day of Christ." 

— Henry van Dyke. 

"There are a million ways of spelling love and 
none of them confined to letters." — Dickens. 

"Have a heart that never hardens, a temper 
that never tires, and a touch that never hurts." 

Dickens. 

"He that is of a cheerful heart hath a contin- 
ual feast." — The Bible. 

"Make a grave of your ugly thoughts and a 
garden for your kindl}- feelings." 

— Henry van Dyke. 
"All who joy would win 
]\Iust share it. Happiness was born a twin." 

— Lord Bvron. 



CHEERFULNESS 89 

SOMEBODY. 

Somebody did a golden deed; 
Somebody proved a friend in need; 
Somebody saHg a beautiful song; 
Somebody smiled the whole day long; 
Somebody thought, 'Tis sweet to live, 
Somebody said, "Tm glad to give." 
Somebody fought a valiant fight; 
Somebody lived to shield the right; 

Was that "Somebody" you? 
"Keep your fears to yourself, but share your 
courage with others." — Stevenson. 

"Learn the sweet magic of a cheerful face." 
"Be sweet and tender — that is doing good: 

'Tis doing what no other good could." 
"Gentle words are never lost, 

However small their seeming, 

Sunny rays of love are they 

O'er our pathway gleaming." 

''A red glass makes everything seen through it, 

red, 
While a blue glass turns everything blue. 
So when every one seems to you selfish or 

cross, 
Perhaps the real fault is in you." 



90 "~ SCHOOL ETHICS 

A cheerful mind, 
A loving heart, 

Work and strength to do it; 
A bit to eat, 
A place to sleep — 

That's life for me — here's to it. 

— Home Notes. 

"It is not the number of joys we have 

That make us happy and gay ; 
But the number we share with our little friends. 

Oh, that is the secret, they say," 

A laugh is worth a hundred groans in any 
market. — Lamb. 

"But let us live with hearts attent 
On hope, that each good day as sent 
Will prove the sweetest ever spent." 

"Write in 6n your heart that every day is the 
best day in the year.' — Emerson. 

"Live where the joys are, and scorning defeat. 
Have a good-morrow for all whom you meet. 



Live in the sunshine — God meant it for you ; 
Live as the robins, and sing the day through." 
— Margaret E. Sangster. 

'Tis always morning somewhere, and above 
The awakening continent from shore to shore 



CHEERFULNESS 91 

Somewhere the birds are singing evermore. 

— Longfellow. 

A light heart lives long. — Shakespere. 

Mirth is God's medicine. Everybody ought 
to bathe in it. — Henry Ward Beecher. 

Good humor is stronger than tomahawks. 

— Emerson. 

Keep your eyes open to your mercies, the man 
who forgets to be thankful has fallen asleep in 
life — Stevenson. 

"A little bit of patience often makes the sunshine 
come, 
A little bit of love makes a very happy home. 
A little bit of hope makes a rainy day look gay, 
A little bit of charity makes glad a weary day." 

"The inner side of every cloud 
Is bright and shining. 
I therefore turn my clouds about 
And always wear them inside out 
To show their silver lining." 

It ain't no use to grumble and complain ; 

It's jest as cheap and easy to rejoice. 
When God sorts out the weather and sends rain. 

Why, rain's my choice. 

— James Whitcomb Riley. 



92 SCHOOL ETHICS 

And every morning seems to say: 
There's something happy on the way, 
And God sends love to you today. 

— Henry van Dyke. 

Children are God's apostles, day by day 
Sent forth to preach of love and hope and peace. 
— James Russell Lowell. 

For we know not every morrow 

Can be sad ; 
So, forgetting all the sorrow 

We have had 
Let us fold away our fears 
And put by our foolish tears, 
And through all the coming years 

Just be glad. — James Whitcomb Riley. 

A little more sweet and a little less sour, 
A little less weed and a little more flower, 
A little more song and a little less sigh, 
A little less earth and a little more sky. 

— Baltimore Sun. 

Life's what you make it 

From springtime to fall ; 
The world's as you take it, 

But— don't take it all. 
From valley to steeple 

]\Iuch joy we can win; 



CHEERFULNESS 93 

The world's for the people, 
So — don't fence it in. 

— Atlanta Constitution. 

Oh, may I be brave today, today! 

And may I be kind and true. 
And greet all men in a gracious way, 
And put good cheer in the things I say, 

And love in the deeds I do. 

— Nixon Waterman. 

I would look up — and laugh — and love — and 
lift. —Harold Arnold Walter. 

"W^hat matter? I or they? 
INIine or another's day? 
So the right word be said, 
And life the sweeter made?" 

— Emerson. 

''If you know of a thing that will darken the joy 
Of a man or a woman, a girl or a boy; 
That will wipe out a smile or the least way annoy 
A fellow, or cause any gladness to cloy — 
'Tis a pretty good plan to forget it." 

The only reason that we don't see good things 
everywhere is because we haven't good eyes. 

— Julian Hawthorne. 

This old world we live in 
Is mighty hard to beat ; 



94 SCHOOL ETHICS 

We get a thorn with every rose, 
But ain't the roses sweet? 

— Frank L. Staunton. 

Real joy comes not from ease, not from 
riches, not from the applause of men, but from 
having clone things that are worth while. 

—Wilfred T. Grenfell. 

THE SECRET OF HAPPINESS. 

Are yon almost disgusted . 

With life, little man? 
I'll tell you a wonderful trick 
That will bring you contentment 

If anything can — 
Do something for somebody, quick. 
Do something for somebody, quick. 

Though the skies are like brass 

Overhead, little girl. 
And the wall: like a well-heated brick, 

And all earthly afifairs 

In a terrible whirl — 
Do something for somebody quick. 
Do something for somebody quick. 

Duty makes us do things well, but love mal<cs 
us do them beautifully. — Phillips Brooks. 



CHEERFULNESS 95 

THE VALUE OF A SMILE. 

"The thing that goes the fartherest towards 

making hfe worth while, 
That costs the least and does the most is just 

a pleasant smile : 
It's full of worth and goodness too, with 

hearty kindness blent. 
It's worth a milHon dollars and doesn't cost 

a cent." 

''One smile can glorify a day. 

One word true hope impart. 
The least disciple need not say, 
There are no alms to give way. 

If love be in the heart." 

"Whatever the weather may be," says he. 
Whatever the weather may be, 
It's the songs ye sing and the smiles ye wear 
That's a makin' the sun shine everywhere. 

— James Whitcomb Riley. 

TRUE HAPPINESS. 

Half the happiness in living 
Comes from willing-hearted giving; 
Comes from sharing all our pleasures. 
From dividing all our treasures. 
And the other half is loving 



96 SCHOOL ETHICS 

First the Lord, then all things living. 
So, each good child should be sowing 
Love seeds while his life is growing, 
For all happiness in living 
Comes from loving and from giving. 

— Alice Van Lee Carrick. 



NATIONALITY. 

"Tuti fratelli" — "They are brothers." — Motto of 
Dnnant, founder of the Red Cross Society. 

RIENZI tells us: 
"Why in that elder day to be a Roman 
Was greater than a king." 

Today, many of us feel that to be an Ameri- 
can is "greater than a king." However, it is 
possible to carry our patriotism, like all 
other good things, to an extreme. Love 
for our country and honest pride in her 
achievements are indeed commendable ; but 
the narrowness that refuses to see good in 
other nationalities, that critically asks. 
"Can any good come out of Nazareth?" is 
to be condemned. This "we-are-superior-clay" 
thought has resulted in a delicate and perplexing 
pedagogic problem — that is, how to insure poor 
children of foreign birth, or parentage, the just 
and equable treatment that should be accorded 
every public school pupil. 

These foreign pupils, and also the American 
children of very poor or disreputable parents, 
are frequently the recipients of most unjust 
treatment, from both teachers and pupils. It 
hurts a child to learn the hard facts that there 
[97] 



98 SCHOOL ETHICS 

are social strata in this democracy and that he 
belongs on a lower one. Injustice rankles in his 
little heart; he does not ask for favoritism, but 
he knows and demands justice. The sage 
founders of the Constitution, who declared, "All 
men are born free and equal," would undoubt- 
edly be surprised at the uncharitable and un- 
constitutional remarks and acts of some of 
Uncle Sam's hopeful offspring. 

If there are enough foreign pupils to form a 
little association and have their own games 
apart from the other pupils, the trouble is mini- 
mized ; or if the children's parents are able to 
dress them extravagantly and to supply them 
liberally with spending money there is httle an- 
tipathy manifested. Human nature is human na- 
ture, so in the school-room, as in the legislative 
hall, love of money and love of style often 
dampens one's patriotic ardor. However, if 
there are only a few foreign pupils, who are 
poorly and oddly clad, and who speak broken 
English, as is frequently the case, the teacher, if 
she is what she should be, is kept busy pouring 
oil on the troubled waters. 

I have never taught more satisfactory pupils, 
as a class or nationality, than Jewish children. 
They are intelligent, studious, obedient, and 
courteous, and the teacher has the co-operation 



NATIONALITY 99 

and support of their parents. Yet these children 
are often subject to indignities from their 
Protestant associates ; a condition which is not 
altogether devoid of humor, when one remem- 
bers that these indignities are heaped upon them 
by children who have been taught to believe in 
the meek and lowly Nazarine, who preached the 
doctrine of "love thy neighbor as thyself," and 
''Bear ye one another's burdens." 

For the last two years I have had only a few 
Jewish children in my school, but before coming 
to me these children had been ridiculed and 
treated so unkindly that they manifested not 
only a spirit of resentment, but aggressiveness. 
The result was that sarcely a week passed with- 
out some disturbance. I talked to the pupils 
about being kind and loving and obeying the 
Golden Rule, until my patience and my temper 
began to be the worse for wear ; still my most 
zealous efforts in behalf of peace resulted in 
nothing more satisfactory than a brief armistice. 

One day at recess, when the factions had en- 
gaged in a short but sanguinary encounter, a 
solution of the difficulty presented itself to me. 
When the pupils came into school I said noth- 
ing about the quarrel, but asked one of the chil- 
dren to name some of the great men of the Old 
Testament. The child named Abraham, Joseph, 



ICO SCHOOL ETHICS 

jMoses, David, and Solomon. I then asked if 
these men were what we would call good men. 
The pupils entertained the belief that the men 
wdio were good enough for God and the angels 
to talk with must be recognized as good by all 
people. I next wished to know if they were 
men of prominence or prestige. By this time 
the children began to think I needed enlighten- 
ing, so they enthusiastically proceeded to tell me 
of the wonderful deeds of these seers. They 
explained that Joseph was second only to 
Pharaoh in authority, that Moses w'as not only 
the leader of the Israelites, but had such power 
wnth God that he controlled the Red Sea, and 
caused water to flow from a dry rock ; they pa- 
tiently informed me that David was one of the 
world's greatest warriors, kings and poets. My 
next question pertained to the intelligence of 
these men. The pupils laughed at this, and said 
the men who wrote the Bible must have been 
intelligent, and Solomon was the wisest man 
that ever lived. Next I asked what nationality 
they belonged to, and when the children realized 
that these prophets, priests and kings they had 
been 'extolling were Jews, they began to under- 
stand the drift of my questions. I then asked, 
"Who was the best man that ever lived?" 
"Jesus." 



NATIONALITY 101 

"Who was Jesus' mother?" 

"Mary." 

"Of what nationahty was Mary?" 

"Jewish." 

I now tell the children many interesting things 
about the Jews. I explain to them that the Old 
Testament recounts the Jews' wanderings and 
persecutions before Christ, but that they 
have been driven from place to place and 
mistreated almost as much since Jesus' death 
as before. Even in this twentieth century 
of enlightenment, they are most cruelly 
treated in Russia. I tell them some of the 
admirable traits of the Jews, like their 
love of home, their children, and their religion, 
that their love for their religion has given us 
The Ten Commandments and The Old Testa- 
ment, how through all their wanderings and per- 
secutions they have preserved their religion, 
their race, and their language. I tell them of 
the illustrious Jewish representatives in the de- 
partments of science and fine arts, what good 
citizens they make, that a Jew, Hayne Solo- 
mon of Philadelphia, gave more to the Ameri- 
can Revolution, "spot cash," than any other 
man, giving $658,007.13, which was an enormous 
sum for a private individual at that time, when 
all commerce and business were prostrated. I 



102 SCHOOL ETHICS 

read them sketches from "The Jew in America" 
(found in Mnnsey's Magazine, which contains 
much of interest, and is well worth reading.) 
We had been reading portions of Ivanhoc, so 
now we read about Rebekah, and Isaac of York. 

In conclusion, I explain to the children that 

"My country, 'tis of thee. 
Sweet land of liberty" 

was founded by people in search of religious 
freedom, that America is, and has ever been, 
the home of the free, and that the Christ spirit 
is to be glad that this beautiful land of ours i>s 
an asylum for the downtrodden of the world. 

I also endeavor to show them the evil of pre- 
judging, that we must see "both sides" before 
we are capable of forming an opinion. Many of 
us are as unreasonable as the Queen in Alice in 
Wonderland, and insist upon having the ver- 
dict first and the evidence afterwards. In a few 
years the boys and girls whom I am teaching, 
will be men and women, and will have to help 
either directly or indirectly, in the making of our 
country's laws, and if they have narrow, preju- 
diced views they will not be fitted for this great 
work. 

It required several days to carry out the above 
program, but the result was so satisfactory that 



NATIONALITY 103 

I was amply paid for the time expended. The 
childish mind is always receptive to the truth, 
when properly presented. The children became 
interested in the Jews, and viewed them in an 
entirely different light, recognizing the fact that 
they were and are, in many respects, a most 
worthy people, and they show their changed 
thought by their kindness to our little Jewish 
pupils. The Jewish children appreciate my at- 
titude in regard to their race, and gladly recog- 
nize the changed conditions. 

This lesson did away with all feelings of 
enmity and superiority, and during the rest of 
the term there was nothing but good will and 
kindness between the pupils, for in some way 
each little child had grasped the thought ex- 
pressed by Abraham, "Let there be no strife, I 
pray thee, between me and thee, and between my 
herdsman and thy herdsman, for we are -broth- 
ers." 

This plan can be successfully used in regard 
to any nationality. All that is necessary to in- 
sure its success is the interest of the teacher. 
Let her familiarize herself with the history, 
literature, and customs of the nation, then pre- 
sent to the pupils, in an attractive way, the facts 
most likely to appeal to them, and she cannot 
fail to secure the interest and sfood will of the 



104 SCHOOL ETHICS 

pupils in behalf of the country and inhabitants 
of whom they study. 

So many of this world's troubles, discords, 
and heartaches are due to the simple little fact 
that we do not know each other — for, 

"If I knew you and you knew me — 
If both of us could clearly see. 
And with an inner light divine 
The meaning of your heart and mine, 
I'm sure that we would dififer less, 
And clasp our hands in friendliness ; 
Our thoughts would pleasantly agree 
If I knew you and you knew me." 



MANNERS. 

For manners are not idle, but the fruit 
Of loyal nature, and of noble mind. 

— -Tennyson. 

"Politeness," he would sometimes say, "is becomin' 
rarer every day. I tell you, suh, the disease of bad 
manners is mo' contagious than the small-pox." 

— Colonel Carter of Cartcrsville. 

INASMUCH as 
"Politeness is to do and say 
The kindest things in the kindest way" 
you have been teaching the child true polite- 
ness while you were teaching him to be kind and 
loving, for politeness is only one of the manifold 
forms of love. 

We know it is impossible for rudeness to find 
lodgment in a heart filled with kindness ; yet we 
continually meet with the kindest of people, 
who. ignorant of all rules of etiquette, are un- 
consciously guilty of acts that are repulsive to 
a person of gentle birth and breeding. Emerson 
had such a person in mind when he wrote, 
"Moral qualities rule the world, but at short dis- 
tances the senses are despotic." Bishop Middle- 
ton was thinking of the same class when he said, 
"Mrtue itself ofl:ends when coupled with forbid- 
ding manners." The reason we find so many 
people with "forbidding manners" is that par- 
[105] 



106 SCHOOL ETHICS 

ents and teachers do not attach enough import- 
ance to the teaching of good manners. They do 
not reahze that instruction in points of etiquette 
is just as necessary as instruction in any branch 
of learning which tends to the broadening of 
the mind, the ennobHng of character, and the 
betterment of hfe. Viewed from a selfish stand- 
point, good manners are a most profitable in- 
vestment, yielding both dollars and friends. 

There are certain simple rules of etiquette 
that all children should be required to learn and 
practice daily. You should teach the child, by 
both precept and example, that it is one of the 
worst forms of selfishness, or unkindness, to in- 
dulge in mannerisms that offend, that he is guilty 
of wrong if his table manners are such as to 
offend any one. 

In teaching politeness your first work is to 
eradicate the belief that it is manly to be rude or 
lady-like to be loud, then convince the child th&t 
it is worth his while to be courteous. We often 
forget that, 

"He who complies against his will 
Is of the same opinion still." 

You may force a child, while in your pres- 
ence, to comply with certain rules of etiquette, 
Ir-t unless vou have aroused a desire in that 



MANNERS 107 

child's mind to be gentle, to be courteous, your 
work has been useless. You have done the 
child no permanent good. 

As Americans our manners are our most vul- 
nerable spot. We do not take time to observe 
the little courtesies that sweeten life. So, when 
the child is daily, nay hourly, confronted with 
acts of discourtesy and disregard for the feel- 
ings of others, it is no easy matter to convince 
him that politeness is a necessary or desirable 
quality. Indeed, he often considers it a useless 
equipment, and patience and ingenuity are re- 
quired to convince him of his error. 

Children are always interested in the real 
men and women — the people who have done 
something in the world. Tell them a story and 
some one invariably asks, "It is true?" and if 
you are forced to answer in the negative the 
story has lost some of its charm. For this rea- 
son you will find one of the best ways to in- 
terest children in politeness is to tell them stories 
of the gentleness and courtesy of great men and 
women. 

I doubt if Scott had any idea of the good seed 
he was sowing when he had Sir Walter Raleigh 
cast his rich velvet cloak in the mud for Queen 
Elizabeth to walk on. But that simple little story 
has planted a tiny seed of courtesy in the mind 



108 SCHOOL ETHICS 

of every child that has studied American history. 
He may have hut a hazy ideal of the number and 
nature of Columbus" voyages, the Cabots may 
have been forgotten, the cruelties of De Soto 
may have passed into cb'ivion ; but there are 
two events recorded in the history of our coun- 
try that are indelibly written upon the minds of 
Young America — the story of Sir Walter Ral- 
eigh's cloak, and the story of Pocahontas saving 
the life of Captain John Smith. The teacher 
sometimes becomes disheartened and disgusted 
with this stress on the seemingly unimportant 
and this forgetfulness of the important. Yet it 
speaks well for the children of our nation that 
the things that most impress their childish minds 
are the knightly deed of courtesy and the kindly 
Christian act. 

Tell the children that Jesus was the First 
True Gentleman. Why? Because He, more 
than any man that ever lived, was merciful, 
just and pure, and always did unto others as h(: 
would have others do unto Him. Teach them 
these quaint lines of Thomas Dekkers, written 
two hundred and fifty years ago. 

"The best of men 
That e'er wore earth about him, was a sufferer, 
A soft, meek, patient, huml)le, tranquil spirit ; 
The first true gentleman that ever breath'd." 



MANNERS 109 

This makes the meaning of the word, gentle- 
man, clear to the child. He perceives that the 
term stands for traits of character that each boy 
can possess regardless of his position or con- 
dition in life, and he also sees that no matter 
how exalted a position a man may occupy, no 
matter how polished his manners may be, if he 
lacks these qualities of gentleness, kindness and 
forbearance he is no gentleman. He learns that 
the word gentleman means infinitely more than 
an outward polish or veneer, that a man's man- 
ners are not exterior, but emanate from within, 
from himself. What a blessed heritage we 
would bequeath our country if we could only 
succeed in convincing the children of this sim- 
ple little fact — the gentle folks are they who 
think gentle thoughts and do gentle deeds ! 

Read cr tell the pupils stories that bring out 
the thought of knightly courtesy: .Tell them 
the old, but ever beautiful story of Sir Philip 
Sidney giving the cup of water to the dying 
soldier. In connection with this, tell the story 
cf our own Bagley. There is nothing re- 
counted in the glorious pages of chivalry that is 
more indicative of the true gentleman than the 
dying words of this hero of the practical nine- 
teenth century. The shell that exploded on the 
deck of the Winslow wounded him unto death. 



no SCHOOL ETHICS 

He knew his end was at hand, yet uttered no 
groan or murmur, but to the rough sailor who 
laid him so tenderly on the blood-stained deck 
he said, "Thank you, Regan" — and died. No 
epigram this, yet chivalric and lasting. So, 
when I recount the knightly deeds of Salidan, 
of Cid, of Robert the Bruce, of King Arthur 
and his Knights of the Round Table, I love also 
to tell the story of the courtesy, the politeness, 
the good manners of our own American boy, 
Eagley. 

After telling the children these stories of 
the knights and heroes of the past the following 
little story will have a most salutary efifect, as it 
brings the truths we have been teaching home 
to the child in a simple, practical and pleasing 
way. 

A REAL KNIGHT. 

A pleasing sight it was I do assure you. Not 
the first part of the scene, for the little maid was 
crying bitterly. Something very serious must 
have happened. Wondering I paused; when 
round a corner came my knight. On a prancing 
steed ? Wearing a glittering helmet and greaves 
cf brass? No. This was a nineteenth century 
knight, and they are as likely to be on foot as 
h.orse-back. Helmets are apt to be straw hats 



MANNERS 1 1 1 

or derbys ; and as for greaves — well, knicker- 
bockers are more common today. 

This particular knight was about ten years 
old — slender, straight, open-eyed. Quickly he 
spied the damsel in distress. Swiftly he came 
to her aid. 

"What's the matter?" I hear him say. 

Alas ! the "matter" was that the bundle she 
held had "bursted," and its contents were open 
to view. Probably the little maid expected a 
hearty scolding for carelessness. And, indeed, 
whoever put that soiled shirt and collars in her 
care might reasonably have been vexed. 

A new piece of paper also proved too frail-. 
Must the child get her scolding? Poor little 
soul ! No wonder she sobbed so mournfully. 
But the boy was not daunted. He tucked the 
soiled bundle under his own arm. "I'll carry 
it to the laundry for you," he said in the kindest 
voice, and off the two trudged together. Soon 
after, I met the small girl again. She was com- 
forted and serene. 

"Was that boy your brother?" I asked. 

She shook her head. 

"Did you know him?" 

Another shake. 

"A real gentleman," I said. "A genuine nine- 
teenth centurv knight. Bless him!" 



112 SCHOOL ETHICS 

After you have convinced the child that the 
world's truly great men found time to be cour- 
teous and gentle, that many of them are re- 
membered as much for their little acts of kind- 
ness and politeness as for their mighty deeds of 
valor, you have aroused a working desire in his 
mind. He really wants to be polite, and is will- 
ing to learn, and, better still, practice the simple 
rules of etiquette. 

It is well to study Washington's Rules of Be- 
havior, not that they are better or more appro- 
priate than others you might select, but owing 
to the pupil's veneration for the Father of His 
Country, they will appeal to him as no other code 
of manners would. 

It is an excellent plan to have the pupils make 
their own books of etiquette. This they can 
easily do with a little judicious help from the 
teacher. The feeling of ownership, coupled 
with the associations connected with the making 
of the booklets, and the practicableness of the 
rules will impress the pupils as no treatise on 
etiquette, however valuable, would. Arrange 
the chapters something like this : 

Chapter I. 

"Whatsoever ye would that men should do 
unto you, do ye even so unto them." 



MANNERS 113 

Give definition of manners, politeness, cour- 
tesy, etiquette, gentleman and gentlewoman. 

Chapter II. 

"Politeness is the oil which lubricates the 
wheels of society." 

Give rules of etiquette in regard to home life, 
table manners, and so on. 

Chapter III. 

"It is good manners, not rank, wealth or 
beauty that constitutes the real lady." 
"Who misses or who wins the prize 
Go lose or conquer as you can ; 
But if you fail or if you rise, 

Be each, pray God, a gentleman." 
Give rules governing conduct at school both 
in the school-room and on the playground. 

Chapter IV. 

"Courtesy was born and had her name 
In princely halls 
But her purest life may be the same 
In humble walls." 
Give rules governing conduct on the street, 
on cars, and when shopping. 

Chapter V. 
"There's nothing in the world like etiquette 



114 SCHOOL ETHICS 

In kingly chambers or imperial halls 
As also at the race and country balls." 

Give rules governing conduct at church and 
places of public and private amusement. 

Let the pupils take "turn about" giving some 
rule of etiquette. See that the rules given are 
concisely stated, and that good English is used, 
then let the teacher write the rule on the board 
and the pupils copy it in books prepared for the 
"vvcrk. 

This method arouses a feeling of interest and 
emulation. Soon the pupils are reading books 
on etiquette and articles on good manners in 
newspapers and magazines, each desirous of 
giving the most and the best rules. The method 
also furnishes a fine drill in writing and lan- 
guage work. If you have time enough to devote 
to the work, the booklets can be made artistic, 
as well as instructive and well worth preserving. 

The chief defect in the manners of children 
springs from the prolific roots of irreverence 
and curiosity. Many and varied are the acts of 
rudeness resulting from these sources, and the 
wise teacher will take special care to eradicate 
such undesirable qualities. 

The most difficult things for the majority of 
girls to overcome are loudness and cfum-chew- 



MANNERS 115 

ing. Charitably remember that these fauUs, 
however displeasing, are due to thoughtlessness 
or ignorance of the many little things that make 
life worth while. It is surprising what an im- 
provement can be brought about by talking 
with, not at or to, the pupils about their faults. 
Often they will begin to correct a bad habit just 
as soon as you enable them to see themselves as 
others see them. 

Teach the girls to be grateful for, and to gra- 
ciously acknowledge, all acts of courtesy. Tell 
the pupils that a correct pronounciation and a 
pleasing inflection of the voice are two unmis- 
takeable evidences of gentle birth and breeding. 
Put a person "to the manor born" in a dark 
room filled with all sorts and conditions of peo- 
ple and by the difference in their pronouncia- 
tion and the modulation of their voices that per- 
son can pick out the gentle folks. Explain that 
this is also true of the language we use. When 
a girl says, "Gee whiz," "It's something fierce," 
"You are up against it," you need nothing more 
to convince you she is not altogether a lady. 
She may be a good-hearted, well-meaning girl, 
but she proclaims to the world that her associa- 
tions have been with ill-bred persons, that she 
is what the world calls common. 



116 SCHOOL ETHICS 

After you have lovingly and patiently shown 
the child the error of his way, then lovingly, pa- 
tiently, and persistently insist upon the correc- 
tion of these errors. Every boy will not be a 
Lord Chesterfield, nor every girl a Madame Re- 
camier, but if you have done your work well 
(and it has not been well done unless your man- 
ner, your voice, your carriage, your life has 
been an illustration — probably on a small and 
imperfect scale, yet an illustration — of the 
truths yon attempted to teach) you will most 
assuredly see a marked improvement in the de- 
portment of the pupils. 

I have my boys learn the following: 
A GOOD-MANNERS CODE FOR BOYS. 

Keep step with any one you walk with. 

Hats lifted in saying "Good-bye," or "How 
do you do?" 

Hats lifted when offering a seat in a car, or 
acknowledging a favor. 

Always precede a lady up stairs, and ask her 
whether you may precede her in passing through 
a crowd or public place. 

Let ladies pass through a door first, stand 
aside for them. 



MANNERS 117 

Let a lady pass first always unless she asks 
you to precede her. 

Look people straight in the eye when speaking 
or being spoken to. 

In the parlor stand until every lady and every 
older person is seated. 

Rise if a lady comes in after you are seated 
and stand until she takes her seat. 

Hat ofif the moment you enter a street door, 
and when you step into a private hall or office. 

Never play with a knife, fork or spoon. 

Use your handkerchief unobtrusively. 

In the dining-room take your seat after ladies 
and elders are seated. 

Rise when ladies leave the room and stand 
until they are out. 

Eat as fast or as slowly as others and finish 
the course when they do. 

Do not look towards a bed-room door when 
passing. Always knock at any private room- 
door before entering. 

Special rules for the mouth are that all noise 
in eating and smacking of the mouth should be 
avoided. 



1 18 SCHOOL ETHICS 

Have the pupils memorize the following lit- 
tle poem and recite it in concert : 

GOLDEN KEYS. 

A bunch of golden keys is mine 

To make the day with gladness shine. 

"Good morning," that's the golden key 

That unlocks every day for me. 

W'hen evening comes, "Good night," I say, 

And close the door of each glad day. 

When at the table, "If you please," 

I take from off my bunch of keys. 

When friends give anything to me, 

I use the little "Thank you" key. 

"Excuse me," "Beg your pardon," too, 

When by mistake some harm I do, 

Or, if unkindly harm I've given 

With "Forgive me," I'll be forgiven. 

On a golden ring these keys I'll bind, 

This is its motto, "Be ye kind." 



SELECTIONS FOR READING. 

Grant this, we pray Thee, that all they who read 
Or utter noble thoughts may make them theirs 
And thank God for them, to the betterment 
Of their succeeding life. — Emerson. 

REALIZING that many teachers would 
welcome new stories that present vital 
moral truths in an attractive way, I 
am "passing on" the following selections, 
rich in ethical lore, and presented in such a 
charming manner as to delight children. 

Impress upon the child's mind that all reading 
is thought-getting: that each story is written to 
teach some good and useful lesson, and that he 
should read in such a way as to obtain this truth. 
Always discuss the story with pupils, awaken- 
ing their interest by judicious questions and ex- 
planations. Have them tell what moral they 
get from it. 

You read to impress the good upon the child's 
mind. It is not the number of books and stories 
you read that brings about this desired result, 
but the worth of a few deeply assimilated. 

The chief merit of the following stories con- 
sists in their power to please, to take hold of the 
childish mind, and their practicableness. By 
properly using them the theory of altruism fades 
[119] 



120 SCHOOL ETHICS 

away, to be replaced by the practical blossoms 
and fruits of love, kindness and goodwill. 

HER FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL. 
By Ella Partridge Lipsctt. 

She was rosy and breathless from running as 
she entered the school-room and closed the door 
gently behind her. The children had taken their 
seats and the teacher stood with her hand on the 
bell. 

"Good morning," said Patty pleasantly, cur- 
tesying in a quaint, old-fashioned way and smil- 
ing engagingly as she caught the teacher's eye. 

"Take your seat," said the teacher, whose un- 
smiling face seemed to be the only thing in the 
room untouched by the glow of the morning 
sunlight, which was glimmering even on the 
dingy blackboards. "It's next to the last," she 
added grimly. "Not quite the foot, but next to 
it. Billy Dunkle is always foot." 

Billy locked curiously at Patty as she slipped 
into the seat, then leaning back with a sign he 
grinned behind his book. "She's got the smile 
that won't come off and she ain't a speck scared 
of her." 

"Close your books," said the teacher in a dull 
voice. "We'll begin with arithmetic this morn- 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 121 

ing. As it is our custom to give the new pupils 
a chance to show what they know, • we'U ask 
Patty to work out that sum on the board with- 
out writing it down." 

Patty rose in a sprightly way, clasping her 
hands behind her back, whereupon Billy 
Dunkle began to tickle the pink upturned palm 
with a sharp slate pencil. She made no sign that 
she felt it at all, but added and multiplied with- 
out a moment's hesitation. 

"Correct. Now give the rule." 
"Rule?" questioned Patty, puzzled, and a lit- 
tle less confident. 

"Yes, the rule. Do }-ou not know the rule?" 
"I — I don't think I know but one rule," stam- 
mered Patty, flushing a little, "and — and that's 
the golden rule." 

A peal of merry laughter rippled around the 
school-room as Patty was waved to her seat. 
"That could scarcely apply to arithmetic," re- 
marked the teacher coldly. 

Billy peeped around the screen of flufify curls 
to see how she stood the ridicule. To his de- 
light she was still smiling. 

"This is no Sunday-school," he whispered. 
"If you are that kind of a girl, Pm going to pull 
your hair to see how much you can stand with- 
out sc|uealing." Leaning forward he tweaked 



122 SCHOOL ETHICS 

one of the bobbing curls hanging temptingly 
within his reach. 

Patty's smile faded. "I won't cry, not if he 
hurts like everything. I've just got to know he 
is my neighbor and needs to have somebody 
love him." She closed her eyes and sat so still 
that Billy let go of the curl and picked up 
his book. "Not a squeak and I pulled hard too. 
Just wait 'til I get her out, though." 

"Patty will go on with the question." The 
teacher spoke so suddenly that Patty jumped out 
of her seat. "It's bounded on the north by what 
dominion?" Patty caught only the word do- 
minion and hurried over to the map to take the 
pointer from the child who had failed to answer. 
She had not heard the geography lesson called 
at all. 

"Dominion — dominion — " she stammered. "I 
think it must be dominion over every creeping 
thing that creepeth upon the earth." 

There was an intense silence in the room as 
Patty stood utterly disconcerted, with the 
pointer clutched in her chubby hand, while great 
tears splashed unheeded on the front of her new 
pink dress. 

"I'm afraid," said the teacher severely, "that 
you're not thinking of the lesson at all. You 
have been sitting with your eyes shut, so of 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 123 

course you have not paid attention. Take your 
seat, but do not go to sleep again." 

"If you please," said Patty smiling even as 
she wiped away her tears, 'T wasn't asleep. I 
was only trying to think right." 

Her little face grew rosy red as the children 
turned to look curiously at her and she twisted 
her favorite curl in great embarrassment. 

"Smarty!" snickered Billy Dunkle. "The 
foot of the class for you. Ha! Ha!" 

"What were you trying to do, Patty?" asked 
the puzzled teacher. 

"Trying to think — there couldn't be anything 
but Love in this school," faltered the little girl. 
"I'm sorry I cried, but I let fear get in so I for- 
get to keep glad in spite of anything." 

The teacher regarded Patty with a strange 
expression, "Go on." 

"Yes'm," went on Patty, not heeding the gig- 
gling, nudging children. "Then I was nearly 
late because I stopped in the yard to get pleas- 
ant before I came in. I wanted to start right." 

"What happened to make you cross?" 

"Why, you see," hesitating, "I wanted to be 
friends with the girls right ofiF, but they 
wouldn't speak to me. Then I thought they 
were talking about me. Everybody had some 
one to tell secrets to and be loving with 'ccpt 



124 SCHOOL ETHICS 

me. So that's when the golden rule went 
crooked and I had to work to know I wasn't 
'spicious." 

An odd gleam of light crept into the teacher's 
eyes and the corners of her month quivered 
strangely. 

"Well, you were so full of the golden rule 
thought that you forgot the rule in arithmetic?" 

Patty nodded. 

"But why did you give that text from the 
Bible about dominion?" 

"Because I was try — trying to have dominion 
over wrong thoughts and they are like creeping 
things that get in before you know it." 

"You may take your seat, Patty, but before 
the recess bell " 

Bing! Thrown forcibly across the room, a 
small wad of moist paper struck the teacher's 
cheek with a stinging blow. The children 
gasped and waited breathlessly. 

Teacher rose to her feet angrily. "Billy 
Dunkle, you may stay long enough to gather 
your books together. Then you may go home to 
stay. You are dismissed." 

Billy's freckled face was a study. He strug- 
gled manfully to keep back the tears and he 
scowled fiercely at the staring children. 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 125 

"I didn't do it," resentfully, "I always get 
blamed for doing nothing." 

"Sh !" whispered Patty turning half around. 
"Try being pleasant to her. Get up and smile 
at her and say you didn't do it. I know you 
didn't." 

"Do you?" he whispered hopefully. Patty 
held up her hand. 

"If you please, Billy didn't throw it. It came 
in the window." 

Without a word or a look, the teacher walked 
to the window and looked out, and sure enough, 
there was a boy in the school yard with a spit- 
ball pipe in his hand. The woman stood for a 
few seconds looking out. The sun still shone 
in the window and it gleamed on her face and 
hair. A sudden mist gathered in her eyes and a 
bit of a sob rose in her throat. 

"Bless her little heart," she thought. "Maybe 
I can think right before I speak again. We'll 
try to keep Love in this school hereafter and 
apply the golden rule even to arithmetic." 

"A^ery well, Billy, " she said aloud presently, 
"I was mistaken. You may put back your 
books and stay. But you had better change 
your behavior and get some busy thoughts into 
your idle little mind. Now you may go, chil- 
dren." 



126 SCHOOL ETHICS 

Billy had been peeping slyly all the morning' 
at a large red apple hidden away in his desk, 
and he had longed to take just a nibble to start 
it. It was as polished as a looking glass and 
promised to be firm and juicy. He slipped it 
into his pocket with a new look of resolution on 
his little face and hurried to the yard to find 
Patty. 

Presently he found her whispering to one of 
the girls, and as he shyly approached he heard 
her say, "He's not really bad, but you see no- 
body's loved him enough to make him want to 
know things." 

Billy's face was almost as red as the apple 
as he handed it to her and he said as politely as 
he could : "Take it, won't you ? Much oblige to 
you for helping me. I won't tease you again, 
but honestly you seemed like an awfully Miss 
Prissy. I like you though, 'cause you're — 
you're a regular brick, even if you are a golden 
ruler." 

LITTLE THANKFUL. 
By Mrs. Susan ^L Griffith. 

"Got a girl yet, Mrs. Baxter?" 

"No, I ain't, INIrs. Allen. Come in. Girl's are 
awful hard to find, it 'pears like. I reckon they 
are gettin' too uppity to work out now? You 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 127 

can't hardly get a white girl no more, and I hate 
to have colored help about the house." 

''All the folks comin' home as usual to eat tur- 
key dinner with you I reckon," said Mrs. Al- 
len, smilingly, as she accepted the proffered 
chair. "I oughtn't to set down a minute, Mrs. 
Baxter, I just run over to borrow a little molas- 
ses for my gingerbread. I didn't know I was 
out, or I'd sent for some yesterday. My men 
folks thinks housekeepin's comin' to an end if 
they don't have ginger-bread." 

"Well, I want to know!" said Mrs. Baxter. 
"Mariar, go to the jug and fill Mrs. Allen's cup. 
And don't be in a hurry, Mrs. Allen. Set 
a while. Yes, the folks are all comin' of course. 
The house'll be full. There's John's and Silas's 
folks, and Emily — Emily's got a new baby; I 
rec'on you knowed that?" 

"No!" 

"Yes! two months old yesterday. Smart lit- 
tle fellow for his age. Baxter's two brothers 
are back on a visit among the kin folks from 
Wisconsin, and they're comin' too. So you see 
we'll be full." 

"Well, I should say you would. It looks 
stormy like, too ; kinder as if it was makin' 
ready for a snow or some such thing," 

"Oh, I reckon it will. It generally does along 



128 SCHOOL ETHICS 

about Thanksgivin'. How'er your turkeys this 
year, Mrs. Allen?" 

"Jim was sayin' this mornin' he guessed we'd 
be obliged to go without this Thanksgivin'. He 
'lowed to have a lot to sell, but there are not 
more than six or seven in the whole lot left." 

"Dear me! I want to know !" exclaimed Mrs. 
Baxter, rubbing the flour off her hands, for she 
was making biscuit. 

"Well, I must be goin', or the dark'll catch 
me. Come over, and you come too, Mariar. I 
hope you'll get a good girl to help. Good- 
night." And the neighbor departed letting in a 
blast of cold north wind as she opened and 
closed the door. 

Night falls early in November, and it was not 
long ere its lengthening shadows enveloped the 
farmhouse, in whose kitchen a bright light 
shone, and fragrant odors of boiling coffee and 
frying sausage were pre-eminent. 

"Set the coffee pot onto the back of the stove, 
Mariar," said Mrs, Baxter, going to the door 
and peering anxiously down the road, listening 
intently for the sound of wheels. "Seems like 
your pa's late tonight. I shouldn't wonder a 
mite if this cold rain would turn to snow afore 
mornin'. We'll probably have a snowy Thanks- 
givin'. There ! I guess that's your pa now. Ma- 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 129 

riar. Get the lantern ready, Sissy, and be quick 
about it." 

But quick as the young girl was she was not 
quick enough for her father, whose heavy foot- 
steps rang along the rough stone walk leading 
from the barnyard to the back door, and whose 
voice could be hea,rd talking cheerily to some 
one. 

"I beHeve he's got us a girl!" said Mrs. Bax- 
ter, throwing the door wide open, and shielding 
the light she held in her hand to keep it from 
being blown out by the stormy wind. 

"Here's your girl!" replied Mr. Baxter, cheer- 
fully triumphant, entering the warm, bright 
kitchen and depositing a diminutive old hair 
trunk on the floor. "Come on in, little one. 
Dcn't stand outside a minute longer than you 
have to. That north wind's like sixty knives, 
jiiore or less." 

She stepped in obediently, lifting a pair of 
very dark eyes slowly to Mrs. Baxter's wonder- 
ing gaze. Such a little mite as she was, seem- 
ingly not over fourteen years of age, no older 
than Maria, shabbily clad, with black, elfin locks 
straying under the battered old hat, and a 
bright, intelligent, eager face. She made a 
quaint little bow as she stepped in, which was 



130 SCHOOL ETHICS 

half courtesy, and stood silent under INIrs. Bax- 
ter's critical gaze. 

"Distress!" ejaculated that lady with a glance 
at her husband. "You don't mean to say to me, 
Baxter, that you've gone and hired this child to 
do our housework?" 

"That's just what I have, Miranda," said Mr. 
Baxter, taking the lantern from the hand of his 
little girl and preparing to go out and put up 
his horse. "It is the best and only thing I could 
do for you, and I just happened on her. I 
reckon she'll do quite well when she gets started ; 
she's little but she's peart." 

Mrs. Baxter turned to the little girl as her 
husband went out. "What's your name, child?" 
she said shortly. 

"Bessie B'-ight, ma'am. I know how to do 
things if I am little. I've worked out ever since 
I was knee-high to a grasshopper. I can scrub, 
and wash and iron and sweep and all like that. 
I don't know 'bout fine cooking, but I can learn. 
I hope you'll let me stay, ma'am, for it is all so 
beautiful." And she clasped her hands and 
sighed with intense pleasure as she glanced 
around the old-fashioned kitchen. 

"What's beautiful?" said Mrs. Baxter fol- 
lowing the entranced gaze of the child in some 
amazement. 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 131 

"Why everything ! The fire, and the smells ! 
Oh, I never lived by a fire that warmed the 
whole room like this, and such beautiful cook- 
ing — it goes all over me !"' 

"Weil I want to know! Did I ever!" ex- 
claimed the astonished Mrs. Baxter, her face 
softening toward the little stranger. "The idea 
of that fire being beautiful, and common things 
like meat and potatoes making such a stir. 
Here, little girl, you go and set yourself by that 
fire if you've taken such a shine to it, and ]\Ia- 
riar, you help me dish up the supper. I reckon 
your pa and the child's both hungry a ridin' so 
fur in the cold." 

"The ride was beautiful," said the little girl 
rapturously. "I never had such a ride before in 
all my life. The air blowing on my face was 
fine. And the fields and the woods are grand. 
We never got to see 'em in town. I think the 
country the most beautiful place in the world. I 
should think you would never want to go away 
from it, even for a day." 

"Humph !" said Maria, "you'll soon get tired 
cf it if you stay here long. It's as lonesome as 
can be all winter; nothing to see and no place 
to go. You'll find out." 

At this moment ]\Ir. Baxter re-entered the 
house and his wife called them all to supper. 



132 SCHOOL ETHICS 

The little stranger's enjoyment of the meal 
went to the housewife's heart, and she piled her 
plate with abundant and lavish hospitality. But 
as soon as the supper was all over she left the 
two girls to do up the work and followed her 
husband into the adjoining room, with a ques- 
tion upon her lips. 

"Now, Baxter, I just want you to tell me how 
and where you came across this child. The 
idea of your bringin' her home to help us about 
the house! Why, she won't earn her board!" 

"Well, she promised to be satisfied. You see, 
Miranda, the way of it was this : I had trapsied 
about all over town trying to find somebody, 
and I was just fairly tuckered. I had some ap- 
ples and cabbage for Mrs. Melrose, and she and 
I stood a talkin' on the steps for quite a bit about 
the scarcity of hired help and all that sort of 
thing, and it was right late when, at last, I got 
started heme. I hadn't gone more'n a block, I 
reckon, when this here little girl ran out in the 
road and stopped me. 'Oh, sir,' she said, so car- 
nest. I kinder thought she was cryin', 'do please 
take me home with you ! I'm little and young 
I know, but I can work just as well as big folks, 
and what I don't know I can learn. I was 
passin' and heard you talkin' to that lady on 
Vine Street about wanting a girl, an' I do wish 



SELECTION'S FOR READING 133 

you'd take me.' 

"She said she was an orphan, with no kin in 
the world, and — I don't know why I took to the 
young one so, Miranda, but I did. I just drove 
round to the place she was stayin' — and I wish 
you could have seen it ; such a wretched hole 
as it was, and such an unfeelin' woman, and 
yet the little girl seemed to like her, and thanked 
her real heartfelt for lettin' her stay there, and 
gave her all the money she had, which wasn't 
much you may rest assured. Well, we just 
picked up her little belongings, which wasn't 
much, neither, and I brung her along home with 
me." 

"Well," said Mrs. Baxter, "it's my opinion 
3'ou've done the foolishest thing in your whole 
life, Baxter, but I'll have to put up with it. 
She's just another child for me to worry about 
and take care of." 

But it did not so prove. Bessie Bright proved 
herself very bright, indeed, and most capable, 
and what she did not know she learned in a sin- 
gle lesson, and the way she made the work fly 
during the two days preceding Thanksgiving, 
was amazing even to Mrs. Baxter. But most of 
all her sweet, breezy grateful spirit was infec- 
tious. Mrs. Baxter was prone to fault-finding 
and looking on the dark side of things, and 



134 SCHOOL ETHICS 

Maria was of a listless unhappy disposition. 
Nothing she possessed in her own home was 
good enough for her, and she was always sure 
other people were getting the best of things. 
But Bessie's hearty enjoyment over every- 
thing she had deemed mean and common, grad- 
ually opened her eyes. 

"I never get tired drinking this beautiful wa- 
ter," she would say as she drew the sparkling 
crystal liquid from the depths of the old-fash- 
ioned well. "We have got just hydrant water 
in the city, and we have to pay for every drop, 
and it's often just as muddy! And the air out 
here makes me feel just like dancing. And I 
never saw anything but muddy snow. Oh ! it's all 
so beautiful, so beautiful! The cows and the 
frisky little calves and — oh, Mrs. Baxter, I want 
to thank you so much for the beautiful bed you 
let me sleep on, I do wish my ma could have had 
such a one to lie on." 

"Did I ever !" exclaimed Mrs. Baxter. "The 
idee of being thankful for a decent bed, and pure 
water, an' even the air we breathe. I want to 
know ! I never thought of givin' thanks for 
such things, but I reckon I'd ought." 

"I have had a hard time this whole year," con- 
tinued Bessie, "yet I've always had something 
to eat every day and a roof to crawl under at 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 135 

night, and I'm thankful for that. But I think 
I never was so thankful as I am now. This is 
goin' to be the most beautiful Thanksgiving I 
ever knew." 

"Well I hope you'll have lots of 'em," ex- 
claimed Mrs. Baxter, with sudden energy, "but 
the folks '11 be comin' along right soon now, and 
you go up stairs with JNIaria, and put on one of 
her dresses and some of her things. I'll get you 
some decent clothes as soon as I can. Maria, 
give her your red and black plaid, she's a good 
bit littler'n you, and it's a gittin' short. And tie 
a ribbon on her hair and treat her like a sister, 
'cause that's what she's goin' to be." 

"Then as they left the room, she said to her- 
self: "If that child has not taught me a whole 
book of lessons since she come here. Thankful 
for water and air and snow, and a decent bed. 
I want to know ! Well, I'm goin' to be thank- 
ful for my hired girl. I never had anything to 
come in so good on Thanksgivin', after all, as 
this Little Thankful, for that's what her name 
ought to be, I do say." 

THE TWO VALENTINES. 
By Edith R. Moshcr. 

"Good evening," said Pink, "I know you are 
a valentine because ycu are in such a puffy en- 



136 SCHOOL ETHICS 

velope. I wonder if you are as pretty as I am?" 
"Good evening," responded Blue," in a soft 
voice, "I'm sure I don't know, but I hope they'll 
like me where I go, I'll try to please." 

"Whoever gets me," said pretty Pink, "will 
be delighted because I am so beautiful." 

"I'm decked with filmy dainty lace, 
With roses pink and golden hearts. 

And Cupid with his winsome face. 
Holds a quiver filled with darts." 

"My flowers are forget-me-nots," said little 
Blue, "and I have one heart, and " some verses 
about forget-me-not and "be true" and "love 
for you." I can't remember what they are, I'm 
timid starting cut alone like this. In the shop 
where we were made, of course, we were all to- 
gether, and on the counter at the store there 
were a great many valentines. Oh, I do hope 
they will like me where I go !" 

"I'm sure any one would consider it a great 
pleasure just to look at me," said Pink proudly. 
I wouldn't bother with verses; no one cares for 
them. This filmy gold lace of mine is perfectly 
beautiful." 

Just then the postman unlocked the mail box 
and put the mail into a big bag, and the little 
valentines saw no more of each other. 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 137 

Next morning was the 14th of February, and 
pretty Pink went proudly with the postman up 
the steps of a large, brownstone mansion and 
waited with impatience for the servant to answer 
the bell. She felt very big in her puffy envel- 
ope as the servant carried her in on a silver tra}', 
and bowing low, presented her to Miss Gertrude, 
who was fretfully walking back and forth with 
an occasional impatient glance at the window. 

"What! only one valentine?" tearing open 
the envelope. "I should have had six at least." 
In her careless haste she tore off a corner of the 
pink roses and gold lace, and poor Pink gave a 
frightened gasp of chagrin and disappointment. 
"Oh, well, I don't care," said Gertrude to her- 
self, "FU have plenty more before the day is 
over, and they are sure to be a great deal pret- 
tier than this." She tossed poor Pink into the 
fire and a moment later our pretty valentine 
found herself fl}'ing up the chimney in smoke, 
and over and over to herself she said, "What a 
disappointing and unhappy world this is !" 

In a little home in the suburbs on this ver3'- 
same 14th of February, Mary was helping her 
mother with the dishes when the postman rang. 
Running to the door she came back exclaiming, 
"Oh, a valentine, a valentine, I wonder who 
could have sent it to me. And it's such a pretty 



138 SCHOOL ETHICS 

one — all blue forget-me-nots ! And look at this 
beautiful red heart! And, oh mother, listen to 
the verses !" 

"I bring you wreaths of flowers, 
Forget-me-nots of blue ; 
And here's a heart of love 
My Valentine for you. 

Dear one, forget me not, 
I send this heart to you; 

The world is full of love. 
My Valentine, be true." 

Over and over Mary read the lines until she 
knew them by heart. Then, for a long time, 
she looked at the pretty blue forget-me-nots, and 
turning to her mother, she said, 'T wonder if 
any one will remember poor Kitty today, she 
hasn't been in school for several weeks, and 
maybe no one will think of her. Would it be 
right for me to send her my valentine when it 
was given to me?" 

"Why, yes," said her mother, looking thought- 
fully at her daughter, knowing that it must be 
a great sacrifice to give av/ay her only valentine. 
"Yes, Mary, that is a very kind thought. Tom 
can take it right over, and if he hurries she will 
never guess who sent it." 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 139 

In a fresh, white envelope, httle Bhte went 
with Tom to Kitty's door, where she was hur- 
riedly dropped. Wistfully she looked after Tom 
as he ran quickly out of sight. "Oh, I do hope 
they will like me here, too," she said to herself, 
"it was so pleasant at the other place I almost 
wish I could have stayed." 

Kitty was at her usual task of caring for the 
babv while mother sewed. "Oh, a valentine," 
she exclaimed, as her brother brought in the 
envelope. "Who could have remembered me? 
See! Isn't it just perfectly lovely?" Her three 
little brothers gathered around to admire while 
Kitty read the verses aloud. 

Little Blue saw she was giving pleasure to a 
great many, and w-as happy and contented. Her 
fear and timidity were forgotten, and she was 
glad she was a little blue forget-me-not valen- 
tine with verses and a red heart. 

Kitty read the verses over ever so many 
times, 

"I bring you wreaths of flowers, 
Forget-me-nots of blue." 

"Who could have remembered me? Who 
sent me this pretty valentine?" she said to her- 
self aeain and aeain. 



140 SCHOOL ETHICS 

A FAIRY STORY. 
By S. Virginia Levis. ' 

O what a pretty little girl Mary was ! I wish 
you could have seen the way the sunlight played 
hide and seek among her dark, glossy curls; 
and I wish you could have watched the sparkle 
in her brown eyes, quite as if a sunbeam had 
strayed into each one of them and couldn't get 
out again. 

But every one has some fault, and of course 
IMary had hers. You might never guess what 
her chief fault was ; so I will tell you right here 
that she was so fond of doing the very thing she 
was told not to do that she earned herself the 
name of "Contrary Mary." 

Though so contrary, Mary was a bright lit- 
tle girl for her age. She was only six, and she 
had just learned to sev/ on buttons, and was very 
proud of her knowledge. 

Now even in lier work Mary's contrary spirit 
showed itself ; for when mamma asked her to 
sew a new button on her own little white apron, 
what do you suppose she did? \Miy, she sewed 
a big black button onto the fine white cambric. 
What do you think of that ? 

Well, Contrary ]\Iary only lauglied and said 
the b.ack button showed plainer than the whiie 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 141 

one, which was exactly the reason her mother 
made her cut it off to sew on a white one. 

It wasn't that Mary intended to be naughty — 
not a bit of it — but she had an idea that she 
knew a great deal more than she really did and 
that of course made her foolishly vain. 

The next day Contrary Mary was told by her 
mamma to feed the tiny yellow chicks that made 
their home not far from the corncrib ; and 
when she called them to her — would you be- 
lieve it? — every one of those fluffy birdies came 
walking backwards. 

Now you'd have to see a chicken walking 
backwards if you'd like to know how it looks, 
though I don't believe you could ever coax one 
to do it for you. 

Of course, Contrary Mary was astonished ; so 
she said: "Whatever is the matter with you? 
Why don't you eat your nice feed, 'stead of 
walking all over it that way? Do you think it's 
only pebbles? Naughty chickies!" 

"They just have to be contrary — that's what's 
the matter — and they don't have to eat corn 
meal just 'cause you say so: so there!" 

Now, who in the world could be saying all 
this, and in such a squeaky voice, too ? Contrary 
Mary looked all around, but could see no one, 
imtil she felt her hair tweaked, and there sure 



\A2 SCHOOL ETHICS 

enough something had hold of one of her long" 
curls, and then, whatever it was, it slid right 
onto her shoulder and straight down her arm, 
and then it sprang off her hand, and — yes, there 
was no mistake about it — upon a big daisy stood 
the queerest-looking little creature that Con- 
trary Mary had ever seen. 

Could it be a fairy? she wondered. And while 
she was thinking the funny little creature tilted 
her hat so far over her face that an end of tiny 
feather tickled her nose. 

"O dear, your hat's on wrong side before!'^ 
said Contrary Mary, and she burst out laughing. 

"It's the proper way for a Contrary Fairy to 
dress," spoke up the quaint midget. 

"And just see your shoes !" giggled Contrary 
IMary again. "On backwards ! How can you 
tell which way you are going? O mv ! O my! 
I've heard of fairies, but I didn't think — tee — - 
hee — hee!'' 

''Well, what did you think?" inquired the 
Contrary Fairy, standing her wand upside down. 

"O, I thought they were pretty, for one 
thing." 

"And what for another thing? Come, now, 
IMary — Mary — Quite Contrary !" 

"Shan't tell you ; so there now. I'm hungry, 
and I'm going home," said Contrary Mary. 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 143 

I Now the queer part of it was that when Mary- 
got home not a soul was in the house, though 
there was the table spread ready for supper. 
Thinking it very strange that her mother should 
have left the house all alone, Contrary Mary sat 
down to eat by herself. 

Then a still stranger thing happened, for 
every time she lifted her fork to bring food to 
her mouth her hand somehow carried the fork 
right back to her plate, so it really looked as if 
she might starve entirely ; while to add to her 
vexation there stood that Contrary Fairy, right 
on the edge of Contrary Mary's teacup, try- 
ing to balance herself with her wand. 

"O please. Contrary Fairy, do come down 
off my cup, or you'll fall in and scald yourself," 
said Mary ; for you see she was a kind-hearted 
child after all. 

At that the Fairy looked greatly pleased, and 
— yes, it was really true — she was growing 
prettier and prettier every moment. She put her 
hat on straight, and as she did so down tum- 
bled her beautiful hair, which hung gracefully 
over her shoulders. Even the style of her dress 
was improved : and when Mary looked at her 
shoes, she saw they were on just as they should 
be, and she no longer held her wand upside 
down. Then Mary clapped her hands because 



144 SCHOOL ETHICS 

she was pleased ; and when the Fairy told her to 
go on eating her supper her fork behaved itself 
just as it ought. 

Then the lovely fairy vanished just as INIary's 
mother and father and baby sister came in at 
the door. 

"Mama," said Mary that evening, as she gave 
her bedtime kiss, "I'm never going to be Con- 
trary Mary again, but your own, willing IMary, 
and I know you'll be pleased." 

And to prove that she was indeed pleased, 
Mary's mother gave her another kiss. 

THE BEST THING THAT BEGINS 

WITH O. 

From "How to Find Happyland." 

By Jasmine Stone J^an Dresser. 

There was once a little girl with blue eyes, 
golden hair, and cheeks as pink as the blow of a 
peach, so you can well believe she v^'as pretty. 

One day she found she was growing homely : 
her hair was becoming less golden, her eves less 
blue, her cheecks less pink ; and finally, unless 
her mother did her hair in curl-papers, it didn't 
curl at all ! 

Now that was a state of afifairs ! and though 
everyone had something to say, nobody could 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 145 

tell the cause of it, and nothing came of all their 
talk. 

Well, one day Annabel (for that was her 
name), wearing her best pink frock, went to the 
brook, though her mother forbade her going, 
and splashed about till her frock was ruined. 
One wrong thing leads to another, unless we 
stop short ; and instead of going home Annabel 
ran away to the woods, where she sat on a log, 
and cried till the creatures came to see what 
the matter was ! 

A little brown rabbit, bolder than the rest, 
came and sat beside her. "I know what you 
should do," he said, "but it isn't easy." 

"What?" cried Annabel, jumping up. 

"Softly ! softly ! hurry-flurry brings but 
worry ! Across the forest is a beautiful lake, 
clear as crystal. In the lake swims a snow-white 
swan, who can tell you what will bring back the 
pink to your frock, and your cheeks as well, so 
you will be as pretty as ever." 

"Dear me, do tell me where to find her !" cried 
Annabel. 

"Follow yonder path and you will find the 
lake : but mind — do not speak to the swan till 
the sun is a golden ball upon the horizon." 

Annabel started up the path as briskly as if it 
kd to the lollipop shop, and after going a good 



146 SCHOOL ETHICS 

way came to the crystal lake, where swam a 
beautiful white swan. 

But the sun was still high in the sky, "Oh! 
I cannot wait till the sun sets!" cried Annabel; 
and as the swan swam by she called, "Oh, swan, 
tell me how to bring back the color to my frock 
and my cheeks." 

The swan sighed mournfully, but did not re- 
ply. Then there was a great rumbling and 
whirring, and the whole forest spun around 
under Annabel's feet, till she was in a place she 
had never seen before. She wandered here and 
there in the thick wood, finding never a sign of 
a path, and at last she sat down crying, "O, 
dear, what shall I do?" 

"What do you wish to do?" asked a frog in 
a pool near by. 

"I wish to find my way back to the swan," 
cried Annabel, "I am lost !" 

"No you are not ! You are sitting on a log," 
declared the frog. "When a thing is lost it's 
nowhere! and you are somewhere! I'm sure." 

"I hadn't thought of that," returned Anna- 
bel, "it's the swan and the lake that are lost." 

"Don't keep saying such foolish things !" 
snapped the frog. "They're somewhere too, and 
if you want to find them, you'll never do it by sit- 
ting there, saying things that aren't true ! You'd 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 147 

better be going a wrong way than no way at 
all," he added, handing her the end of a string. 
"When you find it's wrong you can turn around 
and go the other way. Hold tight to this string 
and see if you can find the other end of it." 

At that the frog jumped into the water and 
Annabel sat holding the string, trying to decide 
what she had best do. 

Presently growing curious to find what was 
at the other end she got up and started off, slip- 
ping the string through her fingers as she went. 

"You'll find something you need at the end," 
called the frog, "it begins with an 'O.' Wind 
3-our string into a nice round ball like an 'O' and 
it will help you to remember." 

"How ridiculously he talks," thought Anna- 
bel. "What do I need beginning with 'O'^ 
I'll not bother to wind the string." So she went 
on, letting it slip through her fingers ; and pres- 
ently she had to stop short, for she was wound 
round about like a silkworm in a cocoon, with 
the tangled string. 

She pulled and tugged, but she couldn't get 
loose, so she sat down and pouted. While she 
sat some more creatures came out of the woods, 
and began offering advice — some of which was 
good and most of which wasn't. 



148 SCHOOL ETHICS 

"Draw in your breath and break the strmg!" 
suggested a fat Httle woodchuck. So Annabel 
drew in her breath and puffed out her cheeks, 
but the string only cut in deeper. 

The chipmunk tried to gnaw it ; but he did 
no good. The squirrel gnawed, saying he was 
a better gnawer than the chipmunk, though he 
meant no slight ; but he did no good, and with 
all their advice and good wishes Annabel was as 
tightly bound as ever. 

"Turn round and unwind yourself," said the 
deep voice of the frog, though Annabel couldn't 
tell where it came from. 

"That's very well for him to say," she grum- 
bled, "but how can I unwind myself when the 
string is full of hard knots and I don't know 
where the end is?" So without even trying, she 
began to cry, — and crying, as you know, never 
makes pink cheeks. 

After a while a bear came along. 

"You humans are funny!" he said, "why did 
you want to tangle yourself up that way?" 

"I didn't want to and I didn't do it," contra- 
dicted Annabel. "The string tangled itself." 

"Tangled itself!" cried the bear, rolling over 
and laughing till he shook, "How can a string 
tangle itself?" 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 149 

"Well I'm sure I didn't touch it," insisted An- 
nabel, "any more than to let it slip through my 
fingers, and I think instead of laughing you 
might help." 

"I would if I could," said the bear politely, 
sitting up. "Humans are always getting into 
scrapes and blaming something else. You 
shouldn't have let it slip." 

Annabel tossed her head and did not answer, 
so the bear got up and walked away. 

Presently he came back to say: "If you didn't 
tie those knots and the string couldn't I don't 
see how there can be any knots there." And he 
went away again. 

"That sounds reasonable," thought i\nnabel, 
"but how can anybody look at me and say there 
aren't any knots?" 

"They wouldn't say so," called back the bear 
sharply. 

"That's right!" piped up the woodchuck, 
"there are knots and knots ! — knots in strings 
and knots in people ! — so if you can't untie them 
one way you'd best try another." 

"I wonder if there are knots in me," thought 
Annabel, trying to rub herself and find out. 

"Not knots that you can feel," said the rabbit. 
"Listen, can you do sums?" 



150 SCHOOL ETHICS 

"Of course I can," she replied, 'I'm in the 
first reader." 

"Then you ought to know that n-o-t is the 
same as k-n-o-t." 

"I don't see any connection," returned An- 
nabel, "that's spelling and we were talking 
about arithmetic — besides they're not the same." 

"Yes, they are — sometimes," said the rabbit, 
"They are with yoit, because you are always 
saying, T will not' and that's a knot that has to 
be untied — I'm telling you for your own good !" 
he added, scutting away before Annabel had 
time to answer. 

Annabel sat thinking for awhile and then she 
began searching among the tangle for the end 
of the string. After looking industriously she 
found it. Then she began slipping it in and out 
of the tangle, winding it in a ball as she went 
along. Presently she came to a hard knot, and 
although she worked at.it for a long time, she 
couldn't untie it. 

"Now you see," said the rabbit, who had 
come back and sat watching her, "that's the 
wa}' you humans do — you alwa}'s go at things 
hind part before ! You must untie it the same 
way you tied it." 

"But I didn't tie it," said Annabel. 

"That's just it!" cried the rabbit, scratching 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 151 

his head so hard that he scratched out a Httle 
piece of fur, "you didn't tie a k-n-o-t." 

"I tied a n-o-t/' admitted Annabel meekly. "I 
guess I tied it when I wouldn't try to unwind 
the string, after the frog told me to." 

The rabbit looked pleased, but did not say 
anything, and Annabel tried again to untie the 
knot, — which she did without the least trouble, 
then went on winding the string. She had a 
good-sized ball before she came to the next 
snarl, — a big one. Annabel blushed over it, for 
she knew it came from not heeding the frog, 
when he first told her to wind the string. 

"Never mind! You are coming on fine!" de- 
clared the rabbit. "Lots of people have knots to 
untie, and it takes them a long time to find out 
how to do it. Just see how quickly you've 
learned. Now you have come to playing in the 
brook and spoiling your frock — that's a terrible 
snarl, isn't it?" 

If Annabel had to work over every knot in 
that string she'd have been at it yet, I guess. But 
the more she worked the more easily they came 
untangled, till before long, she found herself at 
the end of the string, with a neatly wound ball 
in her hand. 

"What will I find beginning with 'O?" was 
her first thought. 



152 SCHOOL ETHICS 

"You have already found it," called a voice. 
And turning about Annabel saw, to her sur- 
prise, that she was beside the crystal lake, and 
at her very feet swam the snow-white swan. 

She looked at the sun and saw it was a golden 
ball on the horizon, and then she cried, "Oh, 
beautiful swan, tell me how to bring back the 
pink to my cheeks and to my frock !" 

"Pretty is as pretty does !" was the swan's 
reply, "look into the crystal lake, little one." 

As she bent over and gazed into the clear 
water, Annabel saw a little girl with yellow ring- 
lets ! eyes as blue as the sky ! and cheeks and 
frock as pink as a peach ! 

"Oh, thank you, beautiful swan ! How can 
I repay you?" she cried, throwing her arms 
around the creature's graceful neck. 

"By never losing what you have have found," 
answered the swan. "Put your ball in your 
pocket and run home, for your mother is wait- 
ing for you." 

You may be sure Annabel wanted to get 
home, so she started off as fast as she could go. 

The little brown rabbit, and all the rest of 
the creatures, came hopping and scampering 
after her and stood at the edge of the wood wav- 
ing good-bye. 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 153 

"Good-bye! dear creatures," cried the happy 
httle girl. "I shall never forget you." 

Then she ran and soon reached her own front 
door, where her mother met her and caught her 
in her arms, crying: 

"Here is my dear little girl who has learned 

O " but she whispered the rest in Annabel's 

ear and I didn't catch it ! Did you ? 

HAROLD'S HANDS AND AMY'S. 

The sitting-room door was thrown open, and 
Harold came in, pulling little Amy after him by 
the apron string. 

"Oh, mother," Harold cried, laughing, "will 
you look at Amy ! She meant to get some of 
your cologne, without asking, but the gas isn't 
lighted in your room, and she grabbed your ink 
instead. Oh ! Oh !" and Harold laughed harder 
than ever. 

Now if tears could wash out ink stains, little 
Amy's hands would soon have been white, for 
big drops were running down her cheeks, while 
mama took her out to the bath room to put the 
pinafore to soak, and to scrub the little black 
paws, as well as she could. And all the time 
she was tel'.ing Amy how much trouble little 
girls get into when they don't obey their moth- 
ers. 



154 SCHOOL ETHICS 

When mother and Amy came back into the 
sitting-room, Harold began to tease his sister 
about her dark mittens. But his mother sur- 
prised him by saying: "I know a boy whose 
hands are stained, though he doesn't seem to 
know it himself." 

Harold glanced at his own rather red fists. 
*'I am talking about a boy that snatched a milk 
can from a smaller boy, spilled the milk and 
made the child very unhappy. That boy's hands 
are blacker than Amy's and the stain will not 
come off until he is sorry and says so, and 
makes up for what he did." 

Harold hung his head. Then he said to him- 
self that, when Amy went to bed, he'd ask 
mother what he ought to do about Johnny Gill's 
spilled milk. 

THE TWO NEW HENS. 

Once upon a time there lived in the poultry 
3-ard of an old-fashioned farm house, called Old- 
croft, twelve proud hens and a rooster. 

The hens had lived at Oldcroft all their lives. 
They thought they were the best bred and most 
beautiful fowls in the world. They talked of 
others who had not their privilege, with the ut- 
most scorn and pity. Besides, had not their 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 153 

Great-Aunt once upon a time won a prize at the 
show in the village? 

But the quiet life at Oldcroft was to be dis- 
turbed by the coming of two strangers. As the 
hens and Mr. Dorking Rooster were sitting in a 
row sunning themselves on some timber, the 
house dog, Tray, trotted up looking very im- 
portant. 

"Great news ! You are to have two new com- 
panions," he said. "They have just arrived in 
the carriage, and are at present in a box in the 
stables. Their names are Mrs. Jenkins and Mrs. 
Perkins, after the ladies where they came from." 

"Ridiculous !" cackled Mrs. Dorking, who 
was the senior and most important fowl in the 
yard. She was sitting on Mr. Dorking's right 
claw. "Two new hens, forsooth ! It is mon- 
strous ! Putting ill-bred, common fowls with 
us! Scandalous, I say!" And she turned so 
white in the face that Mr. Dorking began hur- 
riedly to fan her with his wing, lest she should 
faint. 

"Well, scandalous or no, the hens have ar- 
rived," said Tray, yawning. "And for all you 
know they may be as well-bred as ourselves." 

"Impossible!" cried Mrs. Dorking. "Well- 
bred, indeed! Fll lead them a dance! They'll 
be sorry they ever put their beaks in here. I 



156 SCHOOL ETHICS 

feel most upset, Mr. Dorking ; please fan me 
again. Don't you think it wicked to bring these 
vulgar birds in here?" 

Meanwhile, in the box in the stable, Mrs. 
Perkins was talking to her sister, Mrs. Jenkinb, 
whom she addressed as "Anna Maria," in a low, 
confidential voice. 

"I think that perhaps it will be best not to 
mention to the hens here about grandmother 
gaining the first prize at the poultry show, and 
grandfather the silver cup. I dare say they 
have all won prizes. Anyway, it would be a bit 
'snobbish,' as the humans say" said Mrs. Per- 
kins. 

"Perhaps you are right, sister. It is so dif- 
ferent coming to a new farmyard. At home 
everyone knew about us ; but, of course, they 
will easily see that we are well-bred, and treat 
us accordingly. For my part, I shall do my best 
to be sociable and friendly." 

For the next few days Mrs. Perkins and 'Sirs. 
Jenkins were shut in the barn^-ard, to "get theui 
used to the place," as Sally said. They were in- 
troduced to the other hens at breakfast time, 
four days after their arrival. Mrs. Dorking had 
her beak quite full, and could not speak for the 
moment. Then she cackled : 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 157 

"How dare you try to join us, you ill-bred, 
barn-yard fowls? You shall not feed with us, 
you need not think. Go and take your breakfast 
with the pigs. Come along, all of you ; drive 
them away!" And the unfortunate Mrs. Per- 
kins and Mrs. Jenkins were sent out of the yard. 

They were most unhappy and astonished ?t 
this unkindness. 

"They might see we are decently bred,", said 
Mrs. Perkins. "I think they should know bet- 
ter." 

"So do I, and I do feel hungry. I hope they 
will leave us some corn." 

Later in the day, the two strangers went on 
a tour of inspection to see where they would 
make their nests. Mrs. Jenkins found a lovely 
place in the barn, in a barrel half full of clean 
straw, and she began to fashion a cozy nest for 
herself at once. She was just finishing it when 
little Mrs. Bantuam found her. 

"That's where I want to make my nest," she 
remarked crossly, "I want that barrel." 

Then she called Mrs. Dorking and the other 
hens, who pecked Mrs. Jenkins and drove her 
out of the nest. 

"I am very sorry I took your barrel," she 
said politely. And she marched off toward the 



158 SCHOOL ETHICS 

haystack, where Mrs. Perkins had decided to 
have her nest. 

"Where are yoii going?" cried the hens in 
chorus. 

"To the haystack, where my sister has a nest." 

"Indeed!" said Mrs. Dorking. "I shall have 
something to say about that ! The haystack be- 
longs to me." 

The two strange hens had a most miserable 
time for the next few weeks. They hardly got 
anything to eat, and wherever they made their 
nests, one or the other of the Oldcroft hens 
found them and drove them away. 

"Common hen!" they exclaimed. "They 
have no breeding ! Their great-aunt never won 
a prize at a poultry show." 

The fowls heard these words and laughed to 
themselves. "I am glad we did not tell them 
about grandfather getting the cup at the New 
York poultry show. They would have treated us 
differently then. Now we know what they 
really are like. Such snobbish friends would 
not be worth having." 

"Do' come with me," said Mrs. Perkins one 
day to her sister, Anna Maria. "I have found 
a lovely place for a nest ; but please be very 
quiet, as I do not want the others to follow." 



SELECTIONS FOR READING IS9 

Mrs. Perkins, looking very sly, led the way 
past the lower and upper orchard, into a long 
sloping meadow. She slipped cautiously along 
in the high grass, Mrs. Jenkins following in her 
footsteps. Mrs. Perkins squeezed through the 
palings of the fence at the far end of the 
meadow and her sister did the same. 

"It's a long way," she said. "Do you think 
it is safe, so far from the yard?" 

"I think we will risk it," said Mrs. Perkins. 
"Here is the place." And she showed her sis- 
ter the stump of an old hollow tree, nearly 
covered with ivy and traveler's joy. "It's a 
pretty place for a nest, and beautifully hidden.' 

"I wonder where those hens have their nests 
now?" said Mrs. Silver Wyandotte to Mrs. 
Dorking a few days later. 

"Right out in the field ; somewhere well out 
of the way," replied Mrs. Dorking. "They lit- 
tle know that the fox lives out there." 
II. 

It was a very, very dark night, the sky was 
covered with black clouds, there was no moon or 
stars to be seen. Mrs. Perkins had laid eleven 
pretty brown eggs in the stump of the old tree 
and had been sitting nearly three weeks, and 
expected to hatch at any time. Except for re- 
turning to the poultry yard for meals, when 



160 SCHOOL ETHICS 

Sally usually managed to feed them separately, 
the new hens kept away from the other mem- 
bers of the yard. 

This dark night Mrs. Perkins slept very 
soundly on her eggs, while her sister, roosting 
on a tree nearby, felt sleepless and anxious. Mrs. 
Wyandotte had but the previous day warned her 
that there were foxes in the neighborhood, and 
Mrs. Jenkins could not help worrying and won- 
dering as to what she and her sister would da 
if they came along. 

"We are quite unprotected out here," she 
thought. "We should be gobbled up in a mo- 
ment." And then she fancied she heard a sound 
like foxes' footsteps. She felt so nervous that 
she got ofif her perch and crept into the hollow 
tree, and waking Mrs. Perkins, said : 

"I can't rest out there. I feel sure I hear and 
smell a fox. May I come in and be near you? 
There ! There ! I hear the noise again." This 
time both hens could clearly hear soft padding 
footsteps and low voices talking. 

"Good by, dear husband," said one voice. 
"Good luck to your hunting. My pantry is quite 
empty, so bring back some nice fat hens for the 
cubs and myself." 

"I am going to Oldcroft," said the other. "I 
haven't been there for months, so the poultry 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 161 

will not be expecting a visit. There is a big, fat 
hen called Mrs. Dorking, I'll bring home for you,, 
my love. She will be a tasty morsel, though 
perhaps tough!" 

"Well, look out for Tray, the dog, dear hus- 
band." 

"He will be asleep by the back door. I shall 
go by the turnip field and the orchard, and en- 
ter by the other side of the house. The hens 
roost on the cedar tree by the side door. Good 
by, Mrs. Fox. Go back to the cubs," and Mr. 
Fox trotted ofif. 

Mrs. Jenkins and Mrs. Perkins, shivering 
with fright, waited a few moments, then Airs. 
Perkins said : 

"Anna Maria, has he gone?" 

"Yes, I think so. Oh, sister, what a fright we 
have had ! I feel my heart palpitating yet. Is 
it not dreadful to think about the poor hens at 
Oldcroft? Mrs. Dorking will be caught and 
killed by Mr. Fox for a certainty ; she is so fat 
she will never be able to get away. I really 
think I shall go and warn them. I can go by 
the short cut ; Mr. Fox has gone by the turnip 
field." 

"Oh, Anna Maria, I can't let you go ! I'll 
come with you, though I hate to leave my eggs ; 
they will get cold, and then I shall have no 



162 SCHOOL ETHICS 

chickens, after all my trouble. But the hens 
have been so unkind to us, I don't see why we 
should think of them." 

"Mrs. Wyandotte and Mr. Dorking- have 
been very friendly, though. I must be off ; but 
don't you come ; stay on your eggs. I will go 
as fast as I can and rouse Tray, and he will 
drive away cruel Mr. Fox." 

So brave little Mrs. Jenkins started oil on her 
perilous journey. She felt very frightened, but 
all the same she went steadily on towards Old- 
croft. 

When she got there at last all was quiet ; the 
fox had evidently not arrived. The hen crept 
around to the back door, where Tray was 
stretched asleep, his nose buried in his paws. 
She was sorry to disturb his slumbers, but it 
had to be done, and, pecking him gently on his 
face, she woke him with a start. 

"Go away," he muttered sulkily. "I do not 
know who you are, and I don't want to know." 

"You must wake up ! Mr. Fox is on his way 
here to catch some of the hens to take back to 
his wife and little ones. Please, please arouse 
yourself and bark your loudest!" implored Mrs, 
Jenkins. 

"Why, is it you, my dear, is it? You should 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 163 

be asleep. What is this about a fox? Pooh! 
You must be dreaming." 

"Come and see ! Quick ! You know where 
the others roost." 

As Tray started to run around the house there 
was a tremendous noise and excitement. 

"Oh, quick, dear Tray ! I am sure the fox 
is catching the hens," said poor Mrs. Jenkins. 

Tray was alarmed now. The walls of the 
house and outbuildings echoed to his deep barks. 
As he and his little companion turned the cor- 
ner they saw Mr. Fox dragging Mrs. Dorking 
away by the right wing, while her friends made 
the air ring with their wild cackles. 

At this moment the farmer opened his win- 
dow and shot at Mr. Fox with his gun. Mr. 
Fox, taken by surprise, dropped Mrs. Dorking, 
and, feeling very bad-tempered and hungry, 
hurried back to his supperless wife and children, 
while at Oldcroft the hens, led by Mr. Dorking, 
publicly thanked Tray for coming to their 
rescue. 

"You must not thank me — you must thank 
Mrs. Jenkins," said the old watch-dog. Then 
he told them of the plucky hen's perilous jour- 
ney to save them from the jaws of their enemy. 

All the hens felt very ashamed when they 



1C4 SCHOOL ETHICS 

heard about it, and turned to thank the new hen, 
but she had disappeared into the night. 

"She behaved wonderfuhy weh for an ill- 
bred fowl," said Mrs. Dorking between her 
groans of anguish, for her wing, where Mr. 
Fox had caught hold of her, was very painful. 
"We must behave more kindly to her in future." 

Next morning when Sally was feeding the 
poultry, the farmer came into the yard. 

"You would not have had so many to feed if 
]\Ir. Fox could have had his way last night. I 
frightened him away, and I would have shot 
him outright if I could have seen him plainly,"' 
he said. "By the by, look after the two new 
hens. They are almost pure bred, and are worth 
all the rest of the fowls put together. I am 
afraid they lay away in the fields. The fox 
must not have them." 

All the hens looked very silly at these words. 
Instead of looking down on the newcomers they 
should have looked up to them, it appeared. 

That very day Sally had a good look at the 
new hen's nest, and to her surprise found Mrs. 
Perkins with ten dear little fluffy chickens. 
She caught the mother and family and took 
them to the poultry yard and put them in a coop 
in the old stable, where th.ey would be quite 
safe from the old fox, while Mrs. Tonkins fol- 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 165 

lowed behind to see what happened to her sis- 
ter and her family. 

She felt quite shy and bashful when she found 
she was the heroine of the poultry yard. Mr. 
Dorking- Rooster thanked her in the name of 
all the hens. Then they all went to^ the stable 
and called on Mrs. Perkins, and admired her 
little ones. 

After that they all lived happily together at 
Oldcroft, though Mrs. Dorking never forgot the 
silly mistake she had made. Ever afterwards 
she treated every stranger with consideration, 
and her feathered companions with the greatest 
of politeness. 

FIGHTING THEIR DRAGONS. 

Aunt Mary had just been telling the boys 
about the valiant knights in history and espe- 
cially of how St. George slew the dragon. They 
had been much interested in the story and their 
eyes had sparkled at the recital of the brave 
deed which resulted in the overcoming of the 
great beast. At length little Donald broke the 
silence : 

"1 wish there were dragons today," he ex- 
claimed, "so that I could go out and fight them. 
If one should try to wind himself about me I 



166 SCHOOL ETHICS 

would draw my sword and fight until I had 
killed him just as the man in the story." 

Aunt Mary smiled at the little boy's enthu- 
siasm and then replied gently : "There are drag- 
ons today, and do you know, Donald, that one 
of them is winding himself about you. If you 
don't look out, by and by he will have you bound 
so tijht that you can not get free." 

"Why, Aunt Mary!" Donald's eyes opened 
wide. "You're just fooling." 

"No, I am not." 

"Then what do you mean?" 

"Well, I'll tell you. This morning I sat sew- 
ing near the window when you children were 
playing outdoors, so I couldn't help hearing all 
you said. When some one suggested a race, 
you said, before the race began, that you knew 
you could beat them all. Then in the jumping 
match, whenever one of the other boys would 
jump, you said, 'Oh, that's nothing, nothing, I 
can do better than that.' So it was in all of the 
games, you boasted each time before you had 
a chance to play and you kept telling what you 
could do. 

"A dragon named Brag is winding his coils 
around you and if you don't kill him he will con- 
quer you. In the olden times the true knight 
did not boast of what he could do. He did the 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 1 57 

brave deed, and the people who saw it praised 
him. When a boy gets into the power of this 
dragon Brag, the other boys always dislike 
him, and do not give him credit for what he has 
done." 

Donald looked sober. At last he said: "Aunt 
Mary, I'm going to fight that dragon. I didn't 
know before that he was winding his coils 
arotmd me." 

"All right, dear," said his aunt. "I will be 
the queen and send you forth to kill him. You 
must report to me from time to time about the 
battle." 

"Can't I fight a dragon, too. Auntie?" asked 
five-year-old Robert. 

"Yes, Robert ; you have one to fight, but it is 
not the dragon Brag. Your dragon is named 
Selfishness. You know, dear, how hard it is for 
you to share your goodies with the other chil- 
dren. That's because of this dragon ; so I will 
send you forth to fight him. The next time you 
have something to share, do not stop to think 
how much you want it yourself, but think how 
much the other boy will like it. And Donald, 
whenever you feel like bragging, you must 
make yourself keep still. Each time you do thii^, 
you will be wounding the old dragon, and by 
and by he will die." 



168 SCHOOL ETHICS 

For many days the children reported to the 
queen. Sometimes they told of a victory, and 
sometimes of a defeat. The queen praised and 
encouraged the knights and sent them forth 
again to renew the struggle. 

Finally, one evening, Donald said : 

"Oh, Auntie, I haven't bragged a single bit 
this whole week ; and do you know, it isn't half 
so hard to keep still as it was at first. When 
I began the words would fly out almost before 
I could stop them, but they don't do that way 
now." 

"Aunt Mary," reported little Robert, "today 
I gave more than half of my candy to Charlie 
Swift, and it didn't hurt me a bit." 

Aunt Mary kissed the children. "My noble 
knights," she said, "you have done your work 
w^ell. I'm sure you will soon have the old drag- 
ons so dead that they will never come to life." 

HOJV GRACE WENT TO THE FLOWER 
PARTY. 

By Anne Gnihcrt Mahon. 

It was early in the spring. The grass was 
bright green, the leaves were coming out on the 
trees, and the ground was dotted with tiny cro- 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 169 

cuses. Many-colored tulips and hyacinths bor- 
dered the fence, while the pansies were just 
peeping up from the ground and lifting their 
pretty faces towards the sun. 

Grace was having such a good time, playing, 
that when her mother said it was time for lit- 
tle girls to have supper and go to bed, she be- 
came so angry that she tramped right through 
one of the pansy beds, crushing the poor little 
flowers to the ground. 

So Grace had only dry bread for supper and 
went to bed a very sorrowful little girl. 

After a time she forgot her troubles and only 
knew that she seemed sitting under the big ap- 
ple-tree in the garden, with the sweet smell of 
the spring about her and a great chirping and 
singing in her ears. Everything was full of 
life. Each blade of grass was a tiny man in a 
bright green suit, who nodded smilingly to the 
others and seemed very happy. 

"Isn't it time for the flowers?" asked one in a 
wee voice. 

"The crocuses are here. They're always the 
first. How do you do, Miss Crocus?" said a 
tall green man, with more assurance than his 
companion, as he bowed low to a shy-looking 
young crocus-lady dressed in lavender. 



170 SCHOOL ETHICS 

Grace saw more crocus-ladies, in every shade 
of purple and yellow, all looking very sweet and 
shy as they courtesied to the little green men. 

"The musicians are here, I see," said Miss 
Crocus, turning her head in the direction of 
three fat robin redbreasts who were standing on 
the ground swelling their little throats and chirp- 
ing in snatches like an orchestra tuning up. 

"The frogs are coming, too. One of them 
has a fine bass voice. He is to give us a solo," 
volunteered the green man. 

"Oh, there are the spring beauties ! They are 
so bashful — drooping their heads and never say- 
ing a word. I suppose they feel they're only 
common wild flowers, while we belong to the 
garden and are cultivated," and the little crocus 
tossed her head with a haughty air. 

"They have pretty little pink and white faces, 
however, if they would only look up," said the 
green man, eyeing admiringly the group of 
dainty, white-robed maidens standing beside the 
tree, their heads modestly cast down. "But 
they have quite a little circle of their own," he 
added, as the little white damsels were joined 
by other flower ladies in lavender, yellow and 
delicate pink, while the violet family, in every 
hue, from deep purple to snowy white, were seen 
coming in the distance. 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 171 

"Oh, those saucy hepaticas!" ejaculated the 

• crocus. "I can stand the spring beauties and 

the pink arbutus — they are sweet httle things — • 

and the violets know their place, but preserve 

me from those hepaticas!" 

"Their dress is much the color of yours," 
said the green man mischievously. 

"Very different, indeed," replied the crocus. 
"There is lavender and lavender. No one would 
dream of comparing that coarse tint with mine." 

The green man smiled thoughtfully. Such a 
young blade of grass could hardly have been 
credited with so much tact, but he discreetly 
changed the subject and said pleasantly: 

"Here come the hyacinths and tulips !" 

"I can't bear the tulips," said the crocus, 
"their style of dress is entirely too gaudy for 
me." 

"We should not criticise too harshly," said 
the man in green. 

"But the hyacinths — there is beauty of color- 
ing for you. Look at that lavender! Oh, I 
wish I belonged to the hyacinth family; they 
are so distinguished," sighed the little crocus. 

"They are beautiful," admitted the green 
man, "but I fear they are proud. They look 
down on the grass and the crocuses, and are 
often rude to the poor little wild flowers." 



172 SCHOOL ETHICS 

The hyacinth-ladies, straight and tall, in 
their delicately tinted dresses, stood off with ♦ 
the tulips, whispering and casting admiring 
glances at the three fat robins which were 
hopping around and singing in low tones. 

"What are we waiting for?" asked the green 
man. 

"Why, the pansies," reminded the lavender 
crocus, 

"Of course. How stupid of me to forget." 

"It wouldn't be a spring party without the 
pansies. They introduce everybody and are al- 
ways so pleasant. They are very intimate with 
the hyacinths, but they are just as friendly with 
us and even to the wild flowers." 

"Here they come! But what is the matter?" 
cried the green man in dismay. 

The flowers and the birds and the little grass- 
men flocked about the group of pansies which 
had just arrived. There was a great whisper- 
ing and all the flowers and the little green men 
looked very sad, and the birds stopped singing* 
and the bass frog stopped croaking. 

Grace's own face grew sorrowful, too, for 
she saw that each of the little pansies was in- 
jured in some way. A tall beautiful lady had 
her purple-velvet dress torn and stained with 
mud, and there was a big blotch on her sweet 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 173 

flower-face. The little yellow one beside her 
seemed worse off, she could not stand erect and 
her face quivered as she spoke. Each one was 
mudstained and crumpled and its sweet fresh- 
ness gone. 

Then all the flowers and the grass men set 
up an indignant cry, "Who has done this?" 

"Who has hurt the sweet little pansies that 
everybody loves?" 

The purple pansy looked reproachfully at 
Grace. 

"There she is !" they cried, and they looked 
so strangely at Grace that she cried out and, 
drav.-ing back suddenly, struck herself against 
the tree. 

Then she heard a voice saying, "Did you hurt 
the floor?" 

There was her big sister standing over her, 
and Grace knew that she had fallen out of bed. 

But, although it was only a dream, Grace re- 
solved that she would never again lose her tem- 
per or be cruel to the pansies or any other 
flower. 

WHERE LOVE IS THERE IS GOD. 
[A Russian Legend.] 

In a co'.mtry far away over the sea lived an 
old man. He was a cobbler, and worked away 



174 SCHOOL ETHICS 

very hard pegging and stitching. He was poor, 
but he was contented, and his name was Peter. 

One day, as he sat at his work with his heart 
full of love, his little shop grew very bright 
with a beautiful golden light, and a voice called 
his name. 

Because Peter loved the Christ so much, he 
knew the voice at once, and listened to what it 
would say. 

"Peter," it whispered, "tomorrow I am com- 
ing to you !" 

Then the light faded, and Peter was left won- 
dering what he could dO' to prepare for his 
heavenly guest. 

That night he could hardly sleep for happi- 
ness. Early in the morning he rose, and began 
to sweep and dust, that his little shop might 
be in order. Long before the sunbeams looked 
in his tiny window the room w^as spotless. On 
a shining table stood a loaf of bread and a 
pitcher of milk, the fire was glowing, and near 
it stood the armchair. 

"All is ready ; I must work on my shoes until 
He comes," said Peter; so sitting down on his 
bench he began to hammer and stitch, listening 
meanwhile for a knock at the door. 

The morning was nearly over when Peter, 
glancing out of the window. 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 175 

Saw An Old Man Passing. 

He walked slowly, and a few steps farther 
stopped, as if very tired. 

Peter hurried to the door. "Come in !" he 
called, "here is a warm fire, and a chair where 
you can rest." 

Peter's heart warmed as he saw how glad 
the old man looked as he followed him out of 
the cold into the warm room. Before the tired 
man left, Peter cut a thick slice of bread and 
gave him milk to drink. The old man thanked 
him and hobbled away, rested and warmed. 

"The Morning Is Nearly Gone," 

said Peter, as he closed the door after him, "and 
the Christ has not come." Then he shook out 
the cushions of the chair, looked at the loaf and 
the pitcher of milk, and felt a little troubled. 
Still he whispered, looking at the patch of win- 
try sky that showed through the small window : 
"Dear Lord, surely you will not mind — the old 
man was so friendless and tired !" 

The noonday bells chimed, the hands of the 
clock crept round. It was afternoon and there 
was yet no sign of the expected Guest. 

Peter watched, glancing up from his work 
to look down the street and over the way. 



176 SCHOOL ETHICS 

A Mother With a Little Baby 

in her arms stopped outside. She looked cold 
and hungry, but tried to soothe the baby's cries. 
Peter called her in, warmed some milk for the 
baby, and the little one was soon warm and 
happy. Then he cut once more the loaf and 
poured the milk ; and while the mother was 
resting, the baby had a fine frolic with bits of 
shining leather and a. handful of pegs. . The 
baby cooed and smiled, the cobbler laughed in re- 
turn, and the mother forgot the cold and hun- 
ger of a few minutes before, and went happily 
away, the baby waving a merry good-bye to 
Peter over her shoulder. 

"Oh, dear Lord," cried Peter, "I have given 
away nearly all. but Thou art the King of 
Heaven, and this woman is hungry and alone." 
Then, glancing at the clock, 'Tt is afternoon," 
said the cobbler, "and He has not come." 

Just then he heard a knock at the door. Lie 
threw it open, but only 

A Little Shivering Boy 

stood outside. "Come out of the cold," said 
Peter, "warm yourself while you tell your er- 
rand." 

"I am cold and tired," answered the boy, 



SELECTIONS FOR READING 177 

"may I rest here? I have a long way to walk 
before I reach home." 

"Surely," said Peter, "you would like to see 
me make my shoes. All the children love to 
hear the rat-a-tap-tap of my hammer. Are you 
hungry? Would you like some milk?" 

The boy's face looked eager, but as Peter 
lifted the pitcher he stopped. "If I give this 
away I shall have none left for Christ," he 
thought. "He will forgive me, though, for he 
loved children, and this little one is so hungry." 

Before the child ran merrily away, rested and 
fed, it was dark. "It is night," murmured Peter, 
"and Christ has not come. My little shop that 
was so clean this morning is tracked with many 
footsteps. My fire is burned dow^n — the bread 
and milk are gone. What can I offer the Christ 
when he comes?" 

Then a bright light shone in the dark room. 

"Dear Lord," cried Peter, "I have given away 
all I had to welcome you. I have nothing left!" 
Then a voice replied: 

"Peter, 

"I Have Been Here Three Times Today. 
*'The first time I was with an old man, and 
you warmed and fed Me. The second time I 
was with a poor woman with a little child, and 



178 SCHOOL ETHICS 

you sent Me away rested and comforted. The 
last time I came with a Httle boy, and 'Inasmuch 
as ye did it unto the least of these ye did it vmto 
Me.' As long as you keep your heart so full 
of love. I will stay with you ; for where Love is 
there is God." 



OCT 17 VM 



